The decade from 2010 to 2019 for General Aviation was one of tremendous technological progress, from computer watches to autonomous flight control. Manufacturers also launched some amazing new planes, including a jet from Cirrus, the incredible globetrotting Gulfstream G650, a remarkable diesel twin, the DA-62, from Diamond, among others. At the same time we in GA continued to fight against onerous regulation, often but not always successfully, while working to keep the activity we love open, accessible and fun, challenges that won’t end with a new decade but that will certainly be met by a population of passionate aviators focusing on what really matters, the joy and freedom of flight.
Short-Timer CFIs
With the need by the airlines to hire any pilot with 1,500 hours and a pulse, the pressure on flight schools to retain CFIs to teach their record number of students has become arguably the chief challenge of their business. Many schools, if not most, have developed programs to incentivize their CFIs to stay, instead of getting poached by rival schools with a better offer, but still, we live in an age when a student pilotâs instructor today was her or himself the student as little as 18 months prior. The good news is, by all accounts, these new CFIs are doing great work, at least until they head off to the airlines and their students swaps seats.