A survey conducted in late May by the Flight School Association of North America (FSANA) found that approximately 50% of flight schools did not close during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The survey, designed to detail the effects of the pandemic on the flight training business, had more than 150 respondents, according to FSANA officials.
The first question of the survey, “Did your flight school close due to COVID-19” received responses that included Yes, No, and To dual training, but allowed solo flying/rental.
Nearly half, 49.6%, said they never closed, while 35% did, and 12.7% indicated they limited operations to solo/rental flying.
From the 35% who indicated they had closed, only 40% of these respondents indicated they were open again at the time of the survey.
All the respondents were asked, “To what level of operations are you at compared to prior to closure from COVID-19?”
Responses showed that about 30% said they were at less than previous operations, with about 56% indicating they were somewhere between 50%-75% of their former operational level, and about 27% indicating they were between 75-100% of previous levels.
‘This is somewhat positive in that the majority of respondents indicated they were seeing returns to operational levels, but still shows many have not fully returned at the time of their responses,” FSANA officials noted.
Relating to this, the survey asked the respondents, “Did you lose any customers?”
Nearly 65% of the responses to this question indicated they thought they had lost some of their customers permanently.
The survey also asked if the flight training providers believed they lost revenue as a result of COVID-19 effects?
The response was a resounding yes to this question, with more than 78% saying yes.
Slightly more than 50% indicated the loss was less than $100,000 to their businesses. Another 8% put the losses between $100,000-$250,000, while 11.4% indicated a loss greater than $250,000.
“The real business effects in customer and revenue loss as a result of COVID-19 are going to be felt for some time by most flight training providers in this country,” FSANA officials said.
When considering lost revenue, the survey asked respondents if they were able to take advantage of some of the loan/grant options that were rolled out in response to COVID-19.
When asked if their operation had applied for Payroll Protection Program (PPP) loans, 53% said they had, but of those that indicated they had applied, only 43% had received those funds at the time of the survey.
Moving Forward
The survey also asked a few questions about efforts to move beyond and forward.
When asked if the operation was going to require students and instructors to wear face coverings while in flight, 33% said yes, 12% said no, and 36% indicated they were leaving that choice up to their customers.
Click here to see the full survey report from the responses.