Measuring Success

by Mark R. Baker
President & CEO Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association
Published in Midwest Flyer – Oct/Nov 2016

In business, we say you can’t manage what you don’t measure. That’s true no matter the goal.

At AOPA we’re working to get people flying and keep them flying through the “You Can Fly” program. And to manage those efforts, we’re continually measuring our progress. At mid-year, we took a good hard look at our goals and what we’d accomplished, and I’d like to share some of those achievements with you.

Getting lapsed pilots back into the air is the mission of our “Rusty Pilots” program. In the first half of this year, we held 95 free Rusty Pilots seminars nationwide. Of the 2,700 participants who have been out of the left seat for more than two years, 32 percent have told us they’ve completed a flight review and are back in the air.

To give pilots greater access to aircraft at a lower cost, AOPA created a nationwide network of flying clubs. In the first six months of the year, the AOPA Flying Club Network grew 17 percent to 744 clubs, and AOPA’s flying club staff and You Can Fly Ambassadors helped start 15 new clubs in seven states, so it’s easier than ever to find a club in your area. To help one lucky new club get off the ground, we’re giving away a Reimagined Cessna 150 to a startup club in October.

With high schools nationwide embracing STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) programs, AOPA is introducing high school students to exciting aviation learning and career opportunities. To help get them get going, the “AOPA High School Initiative” is offering 20 flight training scholarships worth $5,000 each this year. We’re also building aviation-related STEM curricula and hosting our second annual High School Symposium in November.

Research has shown that up to 80 percent of people who begin flight training don’t finish. Our Flight Training initiative is designed to help flight schools change that.

This year, we’re having an outside firm conduct a new study to identify why some schools are more effective than others. We’re also conducting our Flight Training Poll to identify schools that deliver great training experiences. Last year, we received 7,000 responses, and we’re on track to meet and perhaps beat that figure in 2016. Schools that get the highest marks will be recognized with AOPA Flight Training Excellence Awards.

Programs like these are effective—the numbers prove it. But they also need to be sustainable. That’s why fundraising is an important component of You Can Fly. Earlier this year, one anonymous donor said he would give $1 million to You Can Fly if we could raise an additional $1 million within 90 days. And we did—putting You Can Fly in a position to continue what we’ve started.

We know we’re moving the needle when it comes to growing and sustaining the pilot population. As You Can Fly grows, we’ll keep measuring our progress. It’s the best way we’ve found to build a stronger future for GA.

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