Impact of Covid-19 on pilot training – April update

At FlightLogger we have been monitoring the state of pilot training since last autumn, using actual data from the currently 119 pilot training organizations that use the FlightLogger platform for managing pilot training operations. We each month analyze the number of active students per pilot academy and how many flights are being registered in total at the training organizations.

This update is based on data from March 2021.

The curve has turned and is now pointing slightly upwards

In our update from last month, we noted a slight improvement of the negative tendency seen since September last year when looking at the average number of students being active per academy. We even expressed a small hope that we were maybe approaching a turning point for pilot training activity levels.

And indeed, the data from March 2021 confirms that the curve depicting average number of active pilots per academy is now for the first time since September 2020 pointing slightly upwards. It’s not exactly exploding, but compared to the previous month, March 2021 has shown a 2,3 percent improvement across all the academies using FlightLogger.

Still much to gain before reaching normal levels

While these numbers are good news, there’s a lot to catch up before reaching the activity levels that we saw prior to the second wave of Covid-19 hitting us. In numbers, the current activity level is 13,6% below what it was in September 2020, based on average students per academy.

The other indicator that we monitor is the total number of registered flights per week. This number does not take into consideration that roughly 25 more training organizations have joined us and are using FlightLogger compared to the same time last year. So even though the total number of weekly flights is similar to last year, this does actually represent a considerable decline in flights per academy.

This is also underlined by the fact that flight activity in the last week of March 2021 was only 77% compared to the average activity level in October 2020. In other words, flight training activities are still only just starting to recover from the second wave of Covid-19.

The good news is that the recovery indeed seems to have begun, and this gives us high hopes for the spring and summer months on the northern hemisphere, where most of our data comes from.

We’ll post a new update in a month. You can sign up to our newsletter using the form at the bottom of the page to make sure to receive the next update.