CAA: GA News, "Government Lifts Its Ban on Some Flight Training"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@xxxxxxxxx>]

Saturday, September 22, 2001

Government Lifts Its Ban on Some Flight Training
By DAVID BARBOZA
The New York (NY) Times


CHICAGO, Sept. 21 - Major airlines, corporate jets, crop dusters, even
aircraft involved in skydiving are back in service. But 10 days after
the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, many flight training
schools are still closed for business.

The Federal government has prohibited most flight training exercises,
effectively grounding operations at more than 1,500 flight schools
around the country. The government lifted some of those restrictions
late last night, but many schools are already worried about bankruptcy.

"I can't understand why flight training is not considered as safe as any
other type of flying," said Dean Ellis, the owner of Windy City Flyers,
a flight training school at the Palwaukee Airport in Wheeling, Ill.,
about seven miles north of O'Hare International Airport in Chicago.
"We're the only business that is not permitted to operate, and we can't
make sense of it."

The Federal Aviation Administration lifted the ban on all flight
training late last night, but said that many restrictions remained. For
instance, flight training in major metropolitan areas, particularly
around Chicago, Boston, Washington and New York, is still prohibited.

Some flight instructors said they thought the training schools were
singled out because of reports that several of the suspected terrorists
had received some training at flight schools in the United States.

Federal officials declined to comment on the specifics of the ban.

"All of these restrictions are decisions that have been made following
the events of Sept. 11," said Arlene Salac, a spokeswoman at the F.A.A.
"It's a decision that's been made at the highest levels in Washington."

In the aftermath of the attacks, heightened safety concerns have led to
tighter flight restrictions in the United States, particularly on small,
low-flying planes. And the cost to those in the general aviation
business, which includes on-demand charter flights, schools and aircraft
service stations, has been huge, according to industry officials. So
huge that some in the industry are seeking relief from Congress.

"The losses are in the hundreds of millions," said Clifton Stroud, a
spokesman at the National Air Transportation Association, a trade
association that represents general aviation service companies like
flight schools. "This is really hurting the flight schools financially.
These are small businesses operating on very thin margins."

The federal government has gradually lifted restrictions on many smaller
planes, except around major metropolitan areas, but an F.A.A. ban
remains on news and traffic reporting, which is typically done with
helicopters, as well as airships, blimps and aircraft that tow banners.

But no segment of the small plane flight industry is being hit as hard
as flight training schools, most of which are in fair-weather states
like Florida, Texas, California and Arizona.

The schools, which train and retrain thousands of pilots a year for
private and commercial aircraft, say that together they are losing
millions of dollars a day in revenue. And some fear the prospect of
bankruptcy if the ban is not lifted soon.

"We have furloughed all our flight instructors and we are working with
half an office staff and one mechanic," said Norbert Koenig, president
of Nassau Flyers, which operates 27 small planes in East Farmingdale,
N.Y. "We are suspending our liability insurance, and we figure that if
there is nothing in two weeks we will have to close down operations."

The prohibition on flight training comes amid a boom in enrollment in
pilot training programs. Over the last few years, the schools had been
trying to meet the growing demand for new pilots amid reports of a
nationwide pilot shortage. But last week's terrorist attack and heavy
layoffs in the airline industry this week have reversed those prospects.

Aspiring pilots are now re-evaluating their options. 

"It's time to start thinking about Plan B," said Peter Lehner, a 22-
year-old flight instructor and recent graduate of Windy City Flyers.
Sitting at a flight simulator with his colleague, Luke Opholt, also 22,
Mr. Lehner said he had hoped to be working as an airline pilot by
December. But now everything has changed.

"We all had this big dream of being an airline pilot," he said. "So
right now it's all on hold and the time line is being stretched out.
It's really frustrating, but there's nothing we can do about it."

The sullen mood can be seen here at the Palwaukee Airport, where Windy
City Flyers is based. Its mostly single-engine planes are chained to the
ground. The classrooms are empty. The clipboards that are checked out
with planes are all in their slots. And the instructors watch from a
window as a few bigger planes and corporate jets take off in the
distance.

Mr. Ellis said every passing minute was lost revenue.

"We're not like a hardware store," he said. "We sell time. So every day
that goes by and we're not using our equipment and staff, we can never
get back."

Many instructors are complaining about the government's decision to
broaden flight restrictions around metropolitan areas; about planes
grounded at distant airports; and about being left in the dark about
what would happen to flight schools in the wake of the terrorist
attacks.

"This is usually the best month of the year to fly," Mr. Ellis said as
he walked outside to inspect his planes. "The weather's cool. It's
clear. There are not as many thunderstorms. It's a perfect time to fly."

Many of the schools have foreign students, who traveled to the United
States just to complete flight training. And there are American students
who took out loans to learn to fly, only to find out that the Cessnas
they were training with might be considered threats to tall buildings.

Some flight school officials insist that their planes, typically single-
engine aircraft, are no more lethal than a large car or a sport utility
vehicle. 

Officials talk about how much easier it is to park a car near a
building. They say many of the flight school planes are flimsy by
comparison to bigger jets.

"It was a Boeing that hit the Pentagon and Boeings are flying," said
Rudi Dekkers, the owner of Huffman Aviation in Venice, Fla.

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