Why do people stop flying?
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Why do people stop flying?
Why do normal, well-adjusted, intelligent people drop flying like a bad habit?
Unfortunately for our industry there are more than a few legitimate reasons:
Expense
Time
Lack of interest
Bad experience
Accessibility
Life circumstances
These can actually overlap to some extent, but let us look at each in detail and maybe explore some mitigation techniques.
Expense
This is a bit of a no-brainer and has received more than its fair share of press over the years as the costs have escalated. The fact of the matter is most recreational activities are getting more expensive. Sometimes it’s a matter of have reasonable expectations about what kind of flying you can do.
My initial thought when faced with someone who quits flying because it has become incrementally more expensive is to label them as unimaginative. Just because you can’t afford a Cirrus SRxx, is no reason to throw in the towel! I have also encountered folks who give up on aviation because they have a vision of what kind of flying and what kind of aircraft they want to own and those are unobtainable. What happened to renting? What about flying clubs? Partnerships? Again I go back to this lack of imagination theory. (related article)
The psychology is a little more complicated than that. As you find yourself have to “go backwards” in your pursuits or not reaching your goals, the feelings of defeat and resentment make the whole endeavor not worth doing for many folks.
I have seen this many times. It takes a certain personality to over come this human condition and accept your current reality. “Commitment in the face of conflict produces character.” ~ Unknown
Time
This one closely mirrors life circumstances. Maybe you earned a promotion and you don’t have, what you feel to be, adequate time to dedicate to flying.
While I applaud this discipline to give it up if you can’t do it your way, I feel there are many steps you could take manage the time better and/or come up with a safe strategy for maintaining proficiency during this phase of your life; it won’t last forever, nothing does.
Lack of Interest
One of the most honest reasons for quitting. Truly if flying isn’t turning you on then why stay with it.
Even here I would suggest trying a new subset of flying to see if that passion could be reignited. You might be surprised. There are so many facets beyond the “normal” general aviation stereotypes. Many pilots have found a renewed love after an aerobatic lesson, or a glider flight, or trying out floatplanes, etc…
Bad Experience
This is a hard one. If something happened in an airplane that truly scared you to the point of hanging up your spurs, I’m not sure there is much that can be done.
Most suggest getting right back onto the horse. I might agree, but consider bringing along a trusted pilot or instructor to let you ease back into the groove. This is extremely situational so you’ll have to do some serious soul-searching on this one.
Accessibility
This is an interesting one. Maybe you flew at you local airport for years and now you find the facility closed for whatever reason. This was the case for several Washington, D.C. airports, post 09/11/01. Or you might have relocated and there isn’t a convenient place to fly in your new locale.
Now you are faced with a long commute. That might be enough to force you to trade flying for golf. Luckily this isn’t common, but airports and businesses do close, especially in small, rural markets. My advice? Gut it out and make the drive. Maybe you’ll cut your flying back to one every two weeks if it’s over an hour each way. Again, many have faced much great hardships and continued to pursue their passions.
Life Circumstances
Life is never static. There are an unlimited number of situations that might clip your wings. It could be medical, financial, family (personal), or professional. Whatever challenge you face, it is up to you to figure out how to make lemons into lemonade. Unless you have a severe physical limitation, everything else is fixable. If you haven’t seen Jessica Cox, who flies with no arms, check it here for some inspiration!
Conclusion
All of these come under the definition of, “if you want it badly enough, you’ll find a way to make it happen!” Adversity has never stopped anyone from flying. It might delay it or make it take a form that isn’t as glamorous as you would like, but flying is flying!
Overseas
I need to give a shout out to our brethren on the other continents. In almost every country, besides the U.S., flying is a much more difficult proposition.
If you feel stressed about how much sacrifice is required, you might consider how good we have it here.
Final Recommendation
Maybe take a break from your relationship with flying and come back to it fresh. If it got into your blood, you’ll be back I promise!
Do you have any experience or thoughts on the matter? Comment. We’d love to hear from you!
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My wife & I have both reached medicare age this year, which means for us a savings of about 6K a year in health insurance cost and plus still enjoying good health ….so it’s hard not to see the silver lining when dark clouds loom.
That’s good stuff Dennis! That’s lots of airplane gas!
I think the renting option is much more user friendly and accessible than it was in the past. Today’s technology and online resources like aircraftclubs.com make it so. Never been a fan of clubs or partnerships (my motto has been rent or own), but it works for some people.
Mike,
That’s very true! Another example of the Internet providing value to GA.
Brent
I’m probably going to give it up in 6 months even though I love flying.
Why?
A combination of reasons:
The biggest: I’ve had a SI (Special Issuance) 3rd Class Medical for several years. Each year I have to jump through hoops with expensive tests that insurance doesn’t pay for. My doctors (one is a pilot himself) keep sayings that I’m plenty fit enough and present no greater risk flying than anyone else and the extent of what the FAA is requiring doesn’t make sense. And to top it off then I lose 2-3 months each year of flying because the FAA takes that long to approve and send my SI.
And then the expense of flying in addition to the expense & hassle of getting the SI. I rent both a Warrior and an Arrow, quite reasonably actually as I work part-time at an FBO and get a generous discount. But it’s still expensive to fly as much as I should to stay proficient as well as fly a few trips for pleasure with my wife or kids. (I try to fly a minimum of 4-5 hrs. a month) Most of what I earn from working at the FBO goes to right back in rental fees.
Both myself and my wife are retiring soon, and while comfortable we’re far from wealthy. Although I enjoy working at the FBO much of what my job entails is getting more & more physically difficult…. at the end of my shift I’m sometimes really pooped (try pulling Cherokee Six’s, Cessna 182’s, Cirrus 22’s around by hand in addition to fuel hoses, climbing ladders, mopping hangars, and sometimes literally running around when busy…. when you’re 65 yrs. old) …. so I’ll probably drop that job when my SI is up and the rental discount won’t do me any good.
So basically the SI expense and hassle combined with the expense of renting/flying is my reason for reluctantly stopping flying in the next 6 months. However, one bright spot is a younger friend says he’ll take me up and act as PIC once in awhile so I can get my flying fix now & then although I doubt it’ll be very much as he can’t afford to fly often either.
Thanks for letting me vent on the subject.
Mike,
Thank you for sharing your story. I am encouraged that you will stay involved in spite of all this.
Brent
I went through a 4 year downtime phase when an STC went bad on me. Finally bought the STC to get past that problem, spent about 100k on a 50k aircraft getting it back up and then have a custom built one off, that every part related to the STC (engine) has to be hand made. A year after getting back into the air, the cylinders went south after 130 hours. Topped with Lycoming NEW, and that only took all the summer. The next year I made it almost all the way through the warm months and then had an aileron try to depart the aircraft. Got that fixed after 2 months. This year in January I had a alternator failure, which lead to the discovery of some exhaust issues (hand fabrication again). So after most of the year down (some of which was my fault at not pushing the issue with my mech) my father goes into the hospital. Nothing too serious (so far) but I am in the hangar when I get the call. I could be there in 2 hours with the plane…if it worked. If my plane can’t get me to my father’s side on a clear day, there is no other function it has that I am interested in. I think I used to love flying, I have done it for 15 years. The money isn’t an issue, but the constant maintenance headaches are just too much. I am an engineer in my JOB, I am a pilot in the airplane, not a mechanic. I went through getting an SI, and at least in my case, it isn’t a major pain. The stuff they want is all stuff you should be getting to manage your condition anyway. The issues with trying to keep this hangar queen in the air though have ruined any good feelings I used to have about flying. For 4 years I wanted to throw up every time I went past the airfield. The last 3 have not done anything to really change that.
I am done.
Scott,
That’s completely understandable. Sounds like you’ve had a really rough go of it.
I would of course love to see you sell the source of your frustrations and go with a plan B, but maybe a break is in order and you’ll come back some day with a fresh start.
Good luck and thank you for sharing that very personal story.
Brent
I stopped flying over 10 years ago. Back then I wasn’t making much money so the expense side was hard. What really got me in the end was I got tired of just punching holes in the sky. I loved flying, but I wanted to do more with it. I gradually stopped putting in hours until I thought it would be better to take a break. Fast forward 10 years later and I’m about to get back in the air. I have new goals and I’m excited again. I want to use flying to help others and that gets me excited. My goal is help out organizations like Angel Flight and use my skill to benefit others. Hopefully I can get back on the horse and go after it again. You are correct, once it gets in your blood you never stop thinking about it
Nick,
Great story! One that undoubtably resonates with some of the readers here. Glad to see you are re-attacking!
Brent