Professionalism may be difficult to describe, but you know it when you see it. Professionalism can also go far in ensuring a positive flight training experience. If your flight school isn’t professional, it’s likely it doesn’t have your best interests in mind. Here are six ways to determine if your flight school is professional or if you need to find another school.

Punctuality

In our society everyone is busy, and everyone’s time is valuable. If your instructor is late or fails to show up for your lesson, he or she has already lost your confidence. A good flight school will demand that its instructors arrive on time and ready for each student.

If your airplane is not on the flight line fueled, clean, and ready, does your reservation truly matter to the school? Of course, circumstances beyond our control (weather, maintenance, ATC, etc.) can affect our ability to be punctual. In these cases, communication between you and your school is critical.

Communication

Clear and concise communication is lacking in today’s world, despite our constant contact with one another. Instructor-student communication is critical to student success; we’ll examine verbal communication later. Right now, let’s focus on what your instructor is saying without opening his or her mouth.

Imagine walking into your attorney’s office to find the legal assistant's feet propped on the desk. With an annoyed air, the assistant —clad in flip flops, tattered jeans, and a faded t-shirt — leads you to a small office. Twenty minutes after your appointment time, your attorney strolls in, talking on the phone and eating a bag of Cheetos. “Why are you here?” is the greeting you receive. That attorney would not remain your attorney very long! You should expect the same level of professionalism from your flight school that you expect from your attorney.

Does your instructor know exactly what’s on that day’s lesson plan? Is he or she wearing a clean uniform? Are they making personal calls and texts within the learning environment? We all use our phones to obtain weather briefings or clarification on technical matters from a pilot examiner or mechanic. We even use them as an Electronic Flight Bag (EFB). Otherwise, your instructor’s phone should be silent and put away. When with your instructor, you should feel like the most important person in the room. If you don’t feel that way … well, you know where you stand with your instructor.

Communication with and among flight school employees is equally vital to your success. Walk around your flight school for a few minutes, and you’ll get a sense of how well the staff communicates. The maintenance technician’s ability to communicate affects logistics, scheduling, and airplane care. The line service technician’s ability to communicate scheduling, logistics, and customer needs affects the daily flow and management of customers’ time. The customer service representatives and managers are the communication conduits that ensure all flights proceed efficiently, and that the school is meeting the customers’ needs.

Talking

The spoken word isn’t our only form of communication, but it is the most common form in a flight school. The language your flight school uses must be clear, clean, and calm. With learning to fly comes learning a new language: aviation-speak. When beginning training, many terms and concepts you encounter are completely unfamiliar to you. Even as you advance through the certificates and ratings, you will continue to encounter new terminology. The flight school employee is responsible to relate to you on common ground and define new terms in a manner you can understand.

If you have ever taught someone to perform a task, you know that the student will inevitably make a mistake and that you must remain calm to ensure a positive transfer of knowledge. An instructor who screams and rants after you pull the mixture out instead of the throttle is not the calming presence you need. If flight school employees are argumentative and combative after you voice a concern, then they clearly don’t recognize the importance of customers to their business — that is, the school wouldn’t exist without you and your fellow students.

It should go without saying that profanity and/or derogatory language by your instructor or flight school employees should never exist. Even if you’re a bit salty, the flight school employee must remain professional and refrain from using such language. Language that demeans others on the basis of sex, gender, race, religion, or other reasons should never be tolerated.

Cleanliness

Would you accept seeing dirty needles, overflowing trash, or stale food laying around your doctor’s office? Of course not! A good flight school is cleaned daily because it’s the right thing to do. A great flight school is cleaned daily out of respect for its customers. Cleanliness goes beyond a spotless reception area or a pristine loo. Airplanes should have their windscreens cleaned, fingerprints/grease spots removed, carpets vacuumed, and all trash removed before every flight. When a flight school pays attention to these small details, it indicates the school is paying attention to the big details too.

Safety

Simply put, unsafe actions and attitudes are unprofessional. “Hey, y’all watch this,” is something that you should never hear in aviation. Does your instructor teach propeller safety, or is he or she leaning on the prop while talking about last night’s big game? Do the line service technicians use proper marshaling signals while on the ramp? Are all flight school employees wearing closed-toed shoes around aircraft? Are the mechanics keeping the shop floor free of debris and tools?

Think about what you’ve been taught. Have you learned to properly secure airplanes? Were you taught checklist usage for all phases of flight? Did your instructor “pencil-whip” your last aircraft checkout or BFR, or did you thoroughly review all maneuvers? Remember, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. If safety isn’t practiced or taught, then it’s not a school priority.

Professional Development

Is your flight instructor participating in the FAA Wings program? When was the last time your instructor presented at an aviation safety seminar? Does your instructor encourage you to participate in safety seminars? Have they spoken to you about adding certificates and ratings? A good pilot is always learning. This includes the flight instructor.

While professionalism may be intangible, looking for these key items can help you differentiate between a professional flight school and one that is not.

As a child, Chris Whittle knew he would fly someday. After he completed his first solo at age 16, Chris' flying career has quite literally taken off. In his nearly 20 years of training countless students, he is among the most respected flight instructors in North Carolina. The Alamance County native and East Carolina University graduate has amassed more than 12,000 hours of flight time and has been identified by the FAA as a Designated Pilot Examiner. He has administered more than 1,500 checkrides since becoming a DPE. Learn more about Chris and the rest of the Elon Aviation staff at www.elonaviation.com.