By ANN Correspondent Rob Milford
“Be a
Pilot”. Such a simple concept. So incredibly important to our
industry, and a trade organization that’s doing everything in
it’s power to bring more people to aviation, every day.
The results, even in this tough economic environment, for 2003,
have been impressive.
“This is a concept sell for all of aviation”
according to BE A PILOT President and CEO Drew Steketee, “We
need LOTS of pilots! We require strong, grassroots support to keep
airports open, and to keep them from becoming shopping malls and
housing developments, and for those in the business aviation
sector, you need to get your CEO in the right seat on a few
flights, and let him take the controls!”
The organization has been running a strong cable television
advertising schedule, including Discovery Wings and CNBC, and three
channels of ESPN, and the return on the advertising dollars shows
more than 26,680 people have registered through the program, and in
the last year, 15 percent of all new students entered through the
“BE A PILOT” program.
The TV schedule will continue through the end of the year,
focused on the Centennial of Flight celebration and coverage in
December, as well as an article in the December issue of Popular
Science magazine.
The “BE A PILOT” website has also drawn more than
667,000 hits this year, and Steketee adds “The offer for a
free logbook through Jeppesen has resulted in more than 1,000 being
shipped out to student pilots, and that’s a very impressive
number.”
Upcoming promotions include 23 Aero Clubs at Air Force bases
across the country, through next spring, and there have been
discussions with the Civil Air Patrol about providing the “BE
A PILOT” material to every non-rated member.
BE A PILOT Chairman
Jack Olcott took time to talk about the importance of bringing new
people into flying: “Pilots are the heart of the aviation
industry, and we need all kinds. Students, Private Pilots…we
have to get ‘em in the air, and after they get a couple
of hundred hours, when we experience the strongest level of
“dropouts” we have to teach them how to really use the
aircraft…to give them help and encouragement”
“This is all about Freedom,” says Drew Steketee
(pictured right), “and we’re not just selling
planes… it’s transportation, excitement, and
high-tech…imagine a fast computer…say 200 miles per
hour!”
The BE A PILOT program also points out that they dovetail very
nicely with the “Young Eagles” program of the
EAA… that gets kids excited, and in the cockpit, and BE A
PILOT can really get them on their career track.