sport aviation marketing update
I just listened to Jim Campbell’s interview of Flightstar and H-Power President Tom Peghiny on aero-news.net. Lots of great topics were discussed and it is abundantly clear that we all owe Tom a huge thanks for helping make the new light sport aircraft industry a reality. At the same time, I’m concerned that Tom’s vision for the future of the LSA market is too narrow to ensure long-term success. As Jim Campbell observed in the interview, “The initial signs of life [in the LSA industry] are us preaching to the choir. What do we do to grow the choir?”
Tom clearly stated a reliance on national organizations such as the EAA and their Sport Pilot Tour for promotion of the LSA industry. He stated, “The manufacturers can’t do it on their own - yet. Right now the whole industry is the equivalent of a big Toyota dealership.” I agree that the EAA and the Sport Pilot Tour are absolutely critical to the success of the industry. However, this view misses the bigger opportunity presented by the Sport Pilot rule. The EAA, with the exception of Young Eagles, is reaching out to current pilots and aviation enthusiasts - not to new individuals that might be interested in joining the sport.
A quick exercise: let’s think of the potential market for light sport aircraft as a scale from 1 to 5.
1. An individual that has always dreamed about flying but has never been in a small plane.
2. An aviation history buff, model airplane flyer, or flight sim pilot that always believed a private pilot license was financially out of reach.
3. Someone that took a few flight lessons but never finished due to cost, access or complexity.
4. A licensed pilot that is no longer current, unable to get a medical, or at risk of losing a medical. Or perhaps a proficient but unlicensed ultralight pilot.
5. A current and active private pilot that either owns or rents.
EAA, Airventure, and the Sport Pilot Tour are hitting the 4s and 5s and doing an excellent job of it. This is where all the early successes of 2005 are grounded. This is where the majority, if not all, of Flight Design CT’s first 113 sales occurred. But is it enough for long-term success? Maybe. Does it completely miss the larger opportunity? Absolutely.
This is where it gets interesting.
The above point-of-view has resulted in more than my fair share of eye rolls from industry leaders. The main response that I get from industry insiders is that they can’t keep up with demand. They are selling as many airplanes as they can deliver. They say ‘Why invest in marketing efforts (geared towards the 1s, 2s and 3s) when I already have all the customers I can handle?’
At the same time, the manufacturers are saying that establishing related services such as flight training, examiners, repairmen and service centers is critical for the success of the industry. In the interview, Tom stated that there are “pitifully few” flight schools capable of servicing the sport pilot market.
Let’s think about this for a minute. This is a true chicken/egg scenario. The industry is self-regulating demand through extremely limited marketing efforts while at the same time frustrated by the lack of services to support it’s customers. Anyone else see a conflict here?
What should we do?
For Sport Pilot, once the market is clearly established the services will follow and grow along with it. Here’s the kicker, airplanes do not need to be in the hands of the owner for the market to be established. Enough demand to generate highly publicized backorders will kick-start the service industry and launch sport pilot into a healthy and stable future. We need to create more demand and we need to do it now.
Does anybody remember back a few years ago, say about 1999, when Cirrus had literally hundreds of airplanes on backorder? Can anyone give me the peak number of backorders? — I want to say it was at least 500 or 600 airplanes. Demand drove more demand. Customers were more than willing to wait years to get their hands on coolest plane available.
How do we create demand? I’m talking real demand. Beyond those individuals with endangered medicals. We need to reach out to the 1s, 2s, and 3s. That is how we’ll establish a strong and vibrant industry.
One last thought…
My opinion, as an industry outsider, is that the LSA manufacturers suffer from a collective bout of low self esteem. Having grown out of the grassroots ultralight movement this is understandable. A clear example of this is Sport Aircraft Works marketing their Parrot aircraft as “Good Enough to be a Real Airplane.” Guess what? It is a real airplane!
So of the 30+ planes available today who is going to step up and market theirs as the best thing since the Wright Flyer? Who has the airplane that is so cool that it will pull new people into the sport? Which LSA is so exciting that it makes motorcycles, recreational vehicles, boats, and a timeshare in Mexico look like the equivalent of watching paint dry? If it’s you, give me a call. I want to work with you.
[tags]aviation marketing, eaa, flight design, light sport aircraft, slsa, sport pilot[/tags]
Add comment April 18th, 2006
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