Be-A-Pilot Reports Surge in Student Starts, Needs More Sponsors

The FAA said that student starts, as a result of 9/11 and the subsequent economic downturn, wouldn't recover to 1993 levels for a decade. The sponsors of Be-A-Pilot were undaunted, although student starts dropped 70% immediately after that date. Pressing forward with an aggressive TV and print campaign, Be-A-Pilot reports that new student starts now top 39,700, half of which can be traced directly to its efforts, according to Drew Steketee, head of the organization.

"This answers some of the questions related to the long-term impact of the 9/11 events," Steketee told Show News. "This year the uptake has been phenomenal," he added. The total number of student pilots now stands at more than 88,750 in number.

Be-A-Pilot's goal is to introduce non-flyers to the rewards of learning to fly by enticing them to take an introductory flight lesson at a local flight school, priced at $49. There are more than 1,800 flight schools that participate in the program. They help underwrite the $49 cost of the first lesson in exchange for the possible enrollment of new students.
Since the Be-A-Pilot program began in 1997, 165,000 people have requested introductory first flight coupons and 30,000 actually have take their first flights. Two-thirds of those who take their first flight go on to become student pilots, Steketee claims.

Steketee gives much of the credit for the program's success during the last 16 months to the innovative ad campaign initiated by Frank Gilanelli, president of Philadelphia-based Barton Gilanelli & Associates. Using cable TV and the Internet, as well as local TV and print news outlets, the Be-A-Pilot program has reached 155 million consumers through BG&A's efforts, Steketee claimed.

Local TV, weather and print reporters are offered a complimentary first flight in a light aircraft at a local flight school. Almost all of them respond by reporting about the excitement of that first flight to their viewers, listeners and readers, thereby creating wide-spread awareness of the Be-A-Pilot program. The retail cost of advertising to reach the same number of people would approach $5 million, Steketee said.

Be-A-Pilot recently signed the International Council of Air Shows as a sponsor. ICAS agreed to include Be-A-Pilot ads in its Air Show World publication that is distributed to between 5,000 and 15,000 attendees at each event.

But all this costs at least $1.6 million annually. Fully funded, the program needs a budget of $2 million to $2.5 million. Be-A-Pilot needs another $400,000 just to make its 2003 budget needs. To learn about becoming a sponsor, call Drew Steketee, here at NBAA, at (702) 216-1383. After NBAA, Steketee can be reached at (202) 637-1383 or at www.beapilot.com.

By Fred George