2006 Intro Flying Lessons To Be Offered At $59

BE A PILOT's 2005 advertising campaign has yielded 21,300 new pilot prospects from TV so far, exceeding this year's goal of 20,000.

"Despite a tighter budget this year, BE A PILOT exceeded its target productivity in TV advertising -- bringing even more new people in for a look at General Aviation and personal flying," noted 2006 BE A PILOT chairman Phil Michel. BE A PILOT TV advertising was relatively more effective this year, as measured in unit costs. Overall cost per TV lead was $30.05 through November 30, almost $1.00 lower than in 2004.

Military Channel (successor to Discovery Wings) cost-per-lead was 40% less than the next best network this year, Discovery Channel. Discovery delivered 16% more attributed response but at twice the expenditure due to its broad audience and higher ad rates.

"Some 25,000 registered for a $49 first flying lesson this year through all our outlets, bringing total pilot prospects generated since 1997 to nearly 258,000. More than 755,000 consumers visited www.beapilot.com this year through November, when activity for the month was up 14% over the same period in 2004," said Michel.

Interest is again strong in BE A PILOT's "Give the Gift of Flight" offer for Christmas. Since BE A PILOT's 2005 certificate expires December 31, consumers will be directed to www.beapilot.com for the new 2006 certificate, good initially until 3/31/06 for a $59 first flying lesson.

New Price Point for 2006

For 2006, BE A PILOT will offer an introductory flying lesson for $59, paid to any of 2,100+ participating U.S. and Canadian flight schools. The new certificates will be available initially only through www.beapilot.com.

"Helping flight schools face increasing fuel and insurance costs, this 20% increase in promotional revenue will be welcome relief to our partners, but a small matter to motivated prospective students," noted Michel.

"As we monitor the economy during early 2006, we will closely watch both costs and consumer reactions to the price and determine our strategy for the balance of 2006," said Michel.

The BE A PILOT Board also will be studying updated research to compare with the 1995-1997 consumer research that defined the program. With changes in consumer behavior and media costs since the 1990s, the future BE A PILOT program will be adjusted according to new research findings.

Since 1997, BE A PILOT has motivated a quarter million consumers to look into General Aviation and give it a try. Of these, 50,000 are now pilots or student pilots. Since 2001 alone, BE A PILOT has generated over 1,300 positive stories published or broadcast in the consumer media. In just four years, BE A PILOT flew over 525 reporters on a first flying lesson.

FMI: www.beapilot.com