Flyguides Releases Survey Of GA Pilots

A new survey conducted by Flyguides Pilot Travel, an online general aviation travel resource, quantifies for the first time the wealth and travel habits of America's more than 600,000 active general aviation pilots. One of the travel and luxury industries' hottest, newly identified niche mark.

"A private pilot who flies for pleasure has a personal income of about $120,000 a year," said Flyguides CEO Nick Selby. "Right now, 32% of Flyguides readers are planning a vacation they'll take within the next 30 days. 80 percent vacation more than three times a year."

The survey (available at ) shows that 85 percent vacationed in the US in the past 6 months, 96 percent in the last year. Worldly and adventurous, 93 percent of pilots have traveled abroad -- 45 percent in the past year alone.

80 percent of pilots have valid passports, compared to fewer than 19 percent of Americans.

Over half of private pilots have a personal income of over $100K; more than 30 percent earn more than $150K, and over 10 percent  more than $250K annually. Only 5 percent earn under $50K.

"Most marketers don't recognize pilots as a clearly defined segment," said Tara Tayyabkhan of TRT Qualitative Research, which conducted the poll. "They tend to classify pilots as just 'wealthy.' As this survey shows, pilots share many identifiable traits."

The Flyguides Pilot Travel website provides travel information for general aviation pilots and their families and friends. Flyguides offers great destination ideas from personal perspectives without the pop-ups and sales pitches of commercial travel sites.  Flyguides authors generally have more than ten years of experience in professional travel writing - experience which means a range of information of interest to pilots, families, and individuals. The website officially launches later this month.

FMI: http://flyguides.com/survey