'Visual flight' ban hurts flying schools

By David Arnold, Globe Staff, 9/20/2001

BEDFORD - Normally when student pilots, small airplane owners, and flight
instructors hang around swapping stories, they are animated, their hands
mimicking airplane patterns as they recap lessons learned about how to stay
out of trouble.

But the mood of the half-dozen people sitting around Executive Flyers
Aviation at Hanscom Field yesterday was decidedly different.

Instead, their conversation focused on the big financial trouble they are in
because flying schools essentially have been grounded since last week's
terrorist attacks.

''My livelihood is all but lost,'' said Rob Holland, a flight instructor.
''Isn't this what the terrorists wanted?'' With losses mounting, some flight
schools have been laying off employees.

The National Security Council has prohibited general aviation pilots from
flying under visual flight rules since the Sept. 11 attacks, purportedly
because VFR flights, which do not require flight plans, are difficult to
track. Instrument pilots filing flight plans between airports have been
allowed to fly since late last week.

Yesterday afternoon, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, which says
it represents 375,000 pilots, half the nation's total, announced that the
Federal Aviation Administration may begin phasing VFR flights back in. But
it did not provide a timetable.

Arlene Salac, a spokeswoman for the FAA's New England region, said yesterday
that she had not been notified of any pending change in a VFR ban.

VFR flights are the staple at the nation's 478 FAA-certified flying schools,
and the ban to date has cost the schools and supporting businesses an
estimated $10 million, according to Keith Mordoff, a spokesman for the
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. ''Some have laid off staff, others
have sold assets, and it won't be long before some schools go under,'' he
said.

Executive Flyers Aviation at Hanscom Field serves 800 students in 30
aircraft. Its loss per day has been running about $6,500, according to its
president, Michael Goulian. Of 27 full-time employees, 22 have been laid
off - including all 15 instructors.

''It has been paralyzing. I'm at a standstill,'' Goulian said.

Holland is one of his instructors. ''It is all I ever wanted to do,'' said
the Hampton, N.H., resident. This month, Holland said, he will be able to
pay the rent because his roommate can bail him out.

But next month is a different story. ''I cannot afford the gasoline,'' he
said.

The mood of other employees and patrons in the Executive lobby was just as
glum. Peter Schmidt of Lexington, for example, owns a $250,000 airplane that
he in turn leases to Executive Flyers, which it then rents to students. The
arrangement is financially tenuous, Schmidt explained. If the airplane does
not fly - and it is certified only for VFR flight - then he loses
significantly because of insurance and maintenance costs.

''Technically, because that airplane can't fly, I'm bankrupt in this
venture. My plane has all the value of a go-cart right now,'' said Schmidt,
adding that revenue from business consulting is allowing him to meet his
living expenses.

He and other general aviation professionals say they would be more than
willing to sacrifice their livelihoods in the wake of the terrorist attacks
if they understood why VFR flight was a threat.

Almost all aircraft are equipped today with transponders that electronically
indicate their position to air traffic controllers, according to Ned
Crowley, a Nashua-based pilot who flies his single-engine Piper Comanche VFR
for his consulting business.

''The government doesn't think about what this kind of arbitrary
discrimination does to us,'' he said. ''We're not just people out for joy
rides.''

Most pilots would like a clear indication of when the ban will end.

''The big problem is not knowing when it might be lifted. I haven't a
clue,'' said Gene Benson, owner of the KeyFlite Academy on Boire Field in
Nashua. He estimated he is losing $10,000 a day in gross revenue.

Daniel Webster College in Nashua has 600 students who aspire to be pilots
and are grounded by the VFR ban, said Daniel Seufert, a spokesman for the
college. ''We'll work around this somehow. It's a scheduling nightmare. But
we'll do it somehow.''

This story ran on page 4 of the Boston Globe on 9/20/2001.
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.
==========
**NOTICE: In accordance with 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is
distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.**
==========