FREDERICK, MD – The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) has announced the recipients of its “AOPA Flight Training Excellence Awards.” The awards are based on the results of the 2016 Flight Training Poll and recognize and celebrate those who provide a customer experience that supports student pilots and facilitates their entry into all aspects of the aviation community. The Flight Training Poll is conducted using an online survey process, which 11,356 individuals completed in 2016, an increase of 60% from 2015.
Flight Training Professionals of Orlando, Florida, was named Best Flight School and Brenda Tibbs of Bravo Flight Training in Frederick, Maryland, was named Best Flight Instructor. The Student’s Choice Award was given to Paragon Flight of Fort Myers, Florida, as the flight school that received the highest number of positive nominations. This year’s President’s Choice Award went to Take Flight Aviation of Montgomery, New York, selected by AOPA President Mark Baker for significant and innovative contributions to the flight training community.
Nine additional flight schools and 10 more flight instructors were judged to be “outstanding” by their students; 60 flight schools and 50 flight instructors were also recognized as being on the flight training “honor roll.”
Flight schools that received awards, including those on the “honor roll,” represent the top 9% of the flight schools mentioned by respondents in the poll and the top 3% nationwide. Flight instructors who received awards are in the top 3% of the flight instructors mentioned by respondents in the poll and top 1% nationwide.
Among those individuals named to the Flight Instructor Honor Roll is Jeffrey Anderson of Wisconsin Aviation, Inc., located at Dodge County Airport, Juneau, Wis. Wisconsin Aviation, itself, was named to the Flight School Honor Roll.
The Flight Training Excellence Awards are part of AOPA’s “You Can Fly” program launched in January 2015 to build a vibrant, growing, and self-sustaining community of active pilots (www.aopa.org).
