GUEST EDITORIAL By ROB MAISEY
Pilots are members of a community.
General aviation pilots generally understand that they share the skies and their passions with others who have traveled the same path. Despite that sense of community, the general aviation world is under threat.
Pilots often talk about its slow decline, and even offer up their solutions for rebuilding, but very few ask themselves if they are personally meeting the obligations needed to maintain successful communities.
There are many ways to explain the economic struggles of general aviation, including — and not limited to — expense, lack of participation, and cost of training.
One of the most overlooked problems is the low usage of existing, privately owned, general aviation aircraft. The bad news is that this is a complex problem. The good news is this problem is almost always solvable.
It is difficult to estimate, but a commercial business will maximize “up time” of its airplanes to some place north of 60%. The average up time of private planes in the USA is estimated at less than 15%.
There are more than 5,000 airports in the United States, more than 664,000 active pilots, and more than 200,000 private general aviation aircraft.
Twenty years ago, general aviation had enough planes in the air that an under-utilized plane had little impact. However, the costs of maintaining airports and other segments of the GA community has increased, while the available discretionary time of airplane owners has decreased, putting the health of our aviation communities under threat.
Sharing is the Solution
Sharing can help restore strong, vibrant, aviation communities.
Economically, increased usage will decrease fixed and per-use costs and increase revenues to support services and infrastructure.
Environmentally it reduces waste incurred by manufacturing and maintaining unused aircraft.
Perhaps more importantly, sharing can grow the active pilot population, preserve and improve community airports, and add support to the more than 1 million jobs estimated to be involved in general aviation.
When we talk about sharing in general aviation, it should not be likened to Uber or Airbnb. The FAA has already determined that those models won’t work for general aviation pilots. By sharing we mean private aircraft owners sharing their planes — through a partnership or other means — with other pilots.
But, plane manufacturers are slow to embrace shared access models for fear of losing sales without recognizing that for many new pilots, private ownership is not ever going to be a realistic solution.
Small businesses and airfields are losing revenue because of lower annual usage of the planes they support, compounded by increased competition for retail goods.
Individual companies, while admiring the problem, have delegated the solutions to non-profit industry associations that are often focused on feel good marketing or legislative reforms and limited by tightly worded mandates.
Through my work in the sharing or collaborative consumption space, I have found that companies have become so focused on maintaining profitability they are unwilling to invest in ideas unless they can get a direct and speedy return on investment (ROI). They are often uninterested in the bigger picture.
While they listen sympathetically to the problem, the last question is often “what’s in it for us?” because increasing usage to revitalize airfields and boost revenues for suppliers and service providers is not enough. The view seems to be that an unused plane generating no revenue is just the way it is, rather than a solvable management problem.
Sharing more planes would create new markets, particularly among millennials who no longer have the disposable income to buy their own planes. If we develop strategies that allow owners to manage and share their planes without rental models or monetizing the transactional value, we can create more sustainable communities.
Statistics are rarely trustworthy but if 10% of the estimated 200,000 private plane owners chose to share their planes with one of the estimated 400,000 pilots without planes, it would make a difference.
If 20,000 of those planes flew an extra five trips per year, that would be 100,000 trips. If we estimated that a flying trip costs, let’s say, $1,000, that’s a lot of dollars, or conservatively $100 million being pumped into supporting aviation communities.
Sharing is something that is currently undertaken very successfully by flying clubs and individual handshake agreements. The idea gets bad press because of the number of failed attempts at successful sharing that are invariably about poor management.
So the takeaway is that sharing can be a problem, but it is a solvable management problem that we should address because many future pilots don’t have the disposable income to go it alone.
The ability to manage and share under-utilized recreational aviation assets is a simple concept, but the education and marketing needed to show owners that they can effectively and easily manage, own, and use their planes is quite a challenge.
The company that can create solutions for better management and improved access to those planes will improve our communities and help solve the issues surrounding unused assets that, in many cases, no longer fully serve the needs and desires of its owners.
Not all planes need to be shared, but if a few willing owners choose to tackle the small problems around sharing to solve the bigger problem of sustainable aviation, they would find many benefits, including lower costs of operating, friendships, and long-term sustainability of the general aviation infrastructure. It would also increase the positive image of general aviation as a sharing, caring, and sustainable enterprise.
Change is always going to look different, but the success of aviation communities will be defined by the willingness of its pilots to commit resources, particularly under-utilized ones, and time to their communities.
Rob Maisey is a Performance Coach and owner of ShareZen Consulting Ltd., which focuses on Employee Engagement, Performance & Mindset, and Collaborative Consumption Coaching. Rob can be reached at 604-904-9400 or at ShareZen.com.
Good article. I agree with the analysis & recommendations based on membership in 6 flying clubs since 1967.
Having multiple owners is another way of sharing. We have three on our Saratoga which helps a lot with the fixed costs. Partnerships or multiple owners are very helpful. All too often in my opinion, schools concentrate on training and give little thought about what the newly minted pilot is going to do with his license. It is unlikely they will want to rent the beat up underpowered trainer they learned on, and even if they did, most schools don’t want their fleet tied up with rentals flying only a few hours compared to the students. They could create “clubs” within the schools with some planes reserved only for those who are members and who have achieved certain milestones of hours flown. These planes could be a bit more deluxe so more enticing for a couple or family to take for a weekend or a vacation or a family visit.
This is a solution, [ advertisement], looking for a problem….which doesn’t exits, at least in general aviation.
The costs of owning and flying an aircraft are swamped by the fixed costs, which are 4 times the variable costs.
Adding more flight hours per year just accelerates the maintenance and need for an engine overhaul.
I co-own an aircraft with 3 other pilots, which makes my fixed costs equal the variable costs, as I mentioned in another recent article.
The author has some of the data incorrect;
There are about 285k GA aircraft registered in the US, while there are 436k certified pilots.
[ 200k + are listed as student pilots in the FAA registry, so shouldn’t be counted ]
I’ll assume that each aircraft is owned by at least one pilot, leaving 151k pilots who need to rent, or ‘borrow’ an aircraft. this is only 36% of the pilot population….not a huge number.
Loaning an aircraft may be in violation of most insurance policies,. Mine states the insurance covers only the’ listed pilots’., who are current with their BFR and medical.
As far a supporting GA airports, they get their revenues from fuel sales and hangar/ tiedown rents . [ visiting biz-jets pay for a lot of fuel ].
The variable cost of flying , fuel and maintenance reserve, amount to about $50 per hour, for a low performance ‘trainer’, and flying 2 for lunch may be another $50.
So, I don’t see where the $1,000 number comes from.?
In my opinion, GA will survive with experimental aircraft becoming more popular, and restoring older,, certified aircraft.
New, certified aircraft, with the cost well into 6 figures, are beyond the resources of most individuals.
Yes, I believe that flying clubs are a great way to share. I learned to fly in France and most private flying is done in clubs. There is a special status for recreational clubs (not just for aviation) that provides a favorable tax status to non-profit clubs.
The key to success in my opinion is for the clubs to well maintain the aircraft and to provide a social as well as a training experience.
Hey Rob, if you have a few thousand $ you would like to share with me I’ll help get this party started.
Hmmm. I have rented airplanes at FBO’s, used Open Airplane, been a long term member of clubs, and co-owned airplanes in various partnerships. I have also owned nine different aircraft solely. Each has its benefits. But aircraft ownership is different than a bicycle or a Honda Civic or even a house. It is more visceral and personal somehow. To “loan” an airplane without other tangible (or intangible camaraderie like a club) benefit, but much risk, is not appealing in any way.
Sharing works. I was lucky enough to be able to rent a friend’s Cherokee 180 for a few years at my last location and would gladly try to find a new opportunity like that where I am now (PNW). I brought my skills as an A&P, CFI-I, and treating the airplane like it was my own, and it worked great. That said, there was a fantastic sharing system in place for a few years–OpenAirplane–but it went out of business due to lack of interest by the GA community. OpenAirplane had the insurance companies on board too, so that was not an issue.
Great article, Rob. We would be naive to not anticipate a slew of challenging responses to this idea. But then, it wouldn’t be an article by Rob, would it?
“Rob Maisey is a Performance Coach and owner of ShareZen Consulting Ltd., which focuses on Employee Engagement, Performance & Mindset, and Collaborative Consumption Coaching. Rob can be reached at 604-904-9400 or at ShareZen.com.”
So tell me, do YOU have an airplane and do YOU share it? What’s your *actual, real world* experience in GA?
There is absolutely ZERO chance that I will lend my airplane to anyone, ever. When they break it, I will own all the pieces. And break it they will. The people who want to borrow airplanes want to borrow them because they can’t afford to buy them, and they sure as heck can’t afford to fix them either.
Having insurance is no guarantee you’ll be “made whole” (legal term) again. I’d much rather have my airplane than a check from the insurance company. “Well your airplane is 45 years old and we figure depreciation at 2% a year, so here’s your check for $8.37, now go get lost – and WE are keeping the salvage.”
Without exception, every time I’ve lent anything out to anyone, it has come back damaged, and that is when it has come back at all. I specifically keep a box of junk tools in my hangar so when someone comes begging to borrow a tool, I have something to give them that I don’t care about.
You cannot borrow anything else from me, period. You cannot borrow anything of value, of any complexity, anything fragile, anything that has to be calibrated, anything irreplaceable, anything I have an emotional attachment to, nothing, so don’t even ask.
The only way to have nice things and keep them nice is not to let anyone touch them, ever.
You’re so, so, right!
Good luck with that pipe dream!
I have owned an aircraft for 45 years+ Sometimes I wish I had the money I spent flying and keeping them airworthy
Lending? An insurance company takes a dim view on this and has requirements. Liability is another issue.
Unfortunately I have seen too much abuse by “RENTERS” ……..
Partnerships and clubs were big years ago and just may come back ……..
So I personally do not lend my aircraft to just anyone.
An example, I is cold and that pilot starts the engine with little or no preheat and allows the RPM to roar on start-up!
Flight schools are forever changing parts and repairing their aircraft because of student abuse, which is primarily the fault of lazy instructors that do not take the time to correctly instruct their students on proper procedures.
It’s a tough call. I do allow some pilots to use my aircraft but they are just as careful and caring like I am to treat my aircraft or any aircraft with love and care!!!!
As an aging ex-owner of an IFR equipped ’46 North American Navion, prior to my sale of the bird I put out feelers seeking partners since my utilization was being reduced. A couple of things I learned…
1) Aviation training is still producing new pilots who want to fly but discover they can’t afford to operate (rent or own) an aircraft similarly equipped to their training bird(s).
2) Most of these same new pilots are reluctant to fly (let alone own a part of) an aircraft with analog gauges and uncoupled autopilots. (I said most because I’m still hoping to meet one that isn’t).
Considering that most GA pleasure flying is probably done outside work hours, the number of partners of a shared aircraft is probably limited to 4 or less. An aircraft equipped similar to training aircraft today, split 4 ways is still shocking for most of this group. Yet 4 partners on a reasonably equipped 4-place, fixed gear, analog paneled bird with reliable avionics could each invest less than $20,000 and operate at pretty low hourly rates.
Somehow, we need to inspire older pilots to participate and at the same time prove to newer pilots that aluminum and cloth aircraft can be safely flown by hand, without $70K worth of avionics onboard.
Sharing would be great. Unfortunately, many pilots are Type A personalities who are “loners” in many ways. Even though you may see videos on YouTube of aviation camaraderie and how much people help each other out, I have never seen a video of someone on YouTube who flies with their personal airplane letting someone else fly their airplane unless they are in the front seat with them. I would like to see an avaition “influencer”, aviation writer whom owns their own airplane, choose a random private pilot and check them out on their airplane, and let them fly it for 20 hours a year whenever or wherever they want. Let’s see if these writers who want more sharing will contribute to the cause. Good luck with that.
Seeing how most and i do mean most pilots treat and abuse rental aircraft why would i subject my aircraft that i paid for with my own monies to the same abuse? Sorry i bought so I wouldn’t have to share. I am taking the risk and the liability so i can enjoy a well maintained and cared for safe aircraft.
Have to agree with Bruce and add on that if you want us to share our aircraft with other pilots then have an article that explains how to protect the property, qualify the actual pilots that will use our aircraft and how to handle the insurance. I am all for doing something beneficial to the community but with such substantial hurdles it doesn’t seem realistic. For now I limit sharing my aircraft with my instructors and people I know fly it as well or better than I can.
Laughing. Sharing an aircraft is like loaning your wife to a friend. It is one thing to PARTNER (co-paying the frieght). A whole different world to just loan your plane to someone out of the ‘spirit’ of aviation brotherhood.
Exactly!!