General aviation, flight schools hammered by shutdown

Thursday, Sept. 20, 2001 | 10:45 a.m.

SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

The nation's flight schools say they will be out of business soon unless the government lets their planes back in the air.

"Whether wittingly or not, we are darn sure being punished," said Tom Davis, a former Navy pilot who owns the Crystal Aero Group flight school 90 miles north of Tampa. "Nothing is flying here."

Flight schools in Southern Nevada are among the businesses that have been affected.

Chuck Herrmann, owner of Desert Southwest Airlines, Henderson, said 15 students have had their courses interrupted and about 35 customers who regularly rent 12 single-engine and twin-engine planes from his company can't fly.

Four full-time and three part-time flight instructors who are paid based on the time they spend flying with their students are awaiting word from the Federal Aviation Administration on when general aviation will get back in the air.

"We can probably hold on for another couple weeks," Herrmann said. "We didn't see us being down this long. But if there's nothing for them (instructors) here, they'll have to apply at McDonald's or sell insurance."

Herrmann said he has faxed members of Nevada's congressional delegation and Gov. Kenny Guinn asking for help. So far, only Sen. John Ensign has acknowledged his plea.

"We've been in business since 1980 and business has been absolutely great," Herrmann said of his operation at Henderson Executive Airport. "But now, all those planes are eating hay and we're paying for tiedowns (aircraft parking) from Clark County and insurance.

"We're not paying for any fuel right now, but all the other expenses go on. And it trickles down to all our suppliers, too. The people who sell us parts and fuel are getting hurt as well."

Rachael White of Sheble's Aviation, which has operations in Henderson and Bullhead City, Ariz., said instruction has stopped for 15 students who can't even practice because of the flight ban. She estimated that her company has lost "tens of thousands of dollars" since the company's fleet of 10 planes was grounded.

Eight flight instructors who are on salary have been sent home without pay and she said she is awaiting word on when general aviation planes can fly again.

"We keep thinking this can't go on much longer, but we haven't heard anything about when we can fly," she said.

Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the FAA is allowing only instrument-rated pilots who file flight plans with airports to fly.

The ban is intended to help air traffic controllers keep track of smaller planes. Exceptions have been made for crop-dusting planes, but the bills are beginning to mount for the nation's 478 FAA-certified flight schools.

"We're hearing from businesses that are saying there not going to be able to hold on much longer," said Warren Morningstar, spokesman for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. "Flight training is a capital-intensive business, an aircraft is an expensive item, and if you have a whole fleet of aircraft you have some very sizable fixed costs."

Since many of the suspected hijackers in last week's attacks attended U.S. flight schools, companies also fear the loss of foreign students.

Flight school operators said they expect the State Department to make it more difficult for foreign students to enter the country for flight school, or it will at least employ a screening process that will lengthen the wait for visas.

Jon Brown, who owns a seaplane school between Orlando and Tampa, said his company has lost $15,000. He has laid off a mechanic and told other employees not to come to work this week.

The school attracts many foreign students because it offers weeklong sessions to earn seaplane certification. Brown said some students returned home this week without completing their classes.

"In two weeks we're not going to have the money to pay the rent," said Alex Farkas, owner of ADF Airways in Miami. "We're a family business. My husband is the chief instructor, my sister does accounting. It's very difficult."

Rep. Bob Clement, D-Tenn., a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said officials understand the plight of flight schools.

"I'm not going to forget about general aviation," Clement said. "Over 80 percent of the takeoffs and landings in this nation are general aviation. If this ban continues, pilot instructors, flight schools and others are going to be bankrupt."

In Mississippi, student pilot Heather Fischer said she is worried because the airlines she wants to work for have started laying off employees.

"I'm not losing hope, especially as resilient as this country is," Fisher said. "The only thing that's frustrating is that we can't fly."

The Sun's Richard N. Velotta contributed to this report.