Sport Aviation Marketing

general aviation marketability thesis

February 16th, 2006

Last fall a Florida State University undergrad named Milota K. Srkal published a thesis titled The Marketability of New Rules and Technologies in General Aviation.

The author himself points out that the paper is lacking for several reasons, including a limited sample size. However, he also notes that no one has ever done a similar analysis. With that in mind, it is certainly worth a quick read if you are marketing an airplane.

Here are a couple of highlights:

1. As the respondents got older, they would not be willing to pay a premium for the Whole Airplane Recovery System and the availability of this technology in a new aircraft would not make a difference with their decision making process for a purchase. (page 51)

2. The more knowledge that pilots generally have about [Glass Cockpit] technologies, the more they feel that Glass Cockpits greatly increase the safety of an aircraft, and they would be willing to pay a premium to purchase this technology. (page 52)

So what to do with this information? Whether your plane has a parachute or not, you can leverage it as a benefit with specific age demographics. Also, don’t rely on avionics manufacturers to promote the features of their products. If you’re using them in your plane, educate your potential customers accordingly.

Thanks to Milota for doing the research. If you ever update it, please let us know!

[tags]General Aviation, Aviation Marketing, Online Marketing, Light Sport Aircraft, SLSA, Sport Pilot[/tags]

Entry Filed under: SLSA, Uncategorized, aviation marketing, general aviation, light sport aircraft, online marketing, sport pilot