RedHawk Powered By Brown Aviation Lease Has Goal Of Putting The Margin Back Into The Flight School Businesses
Democratizing access to modern training aircraft, increasing margin for flight schools and providing operators with a frictionless experience driven by technology and big data: That is the latest mission taken on by Brown Aviation Lease (BAL) with their new product RedHawk powered by Brown Aviation Lease.
In partnership with RedHawk Aero, LLC, Brown Aviation Lease has built the first power-by-the-hour solution that brings together hardware, software and services into one platform for flight schools and collegiate aviation programs. The combination of the three components, allows Brown to use data and technology to deliver a better product at a more affordable price.
Each component consists of the following:
- Hardware – RedHawk Training Aircraft provided by RedHawk Aero, LLC
- Software – PlatformBrown, built to reduce cost and increase the operational efficiency of flight training equipment. Features include real-time record keeping, cost and utilization analysis and maintenance status tracking for individual aircraft and entire fleets.
- Services - Included in the program, Brown provides all scheduled engine maintenance parts and a labor rebate for scheduled engine maintenance events.
Flight schools have the option to consume this solution in two ways, both of which include the software and services platform.
Option 1: RedHawk powered by Brown Aviation Lease - an all-inclusive rental solution for part 141 and part 91 programs.
Option 2: RedHawk Finance powered by Brown Aviation Lease - an all-inclusive financing solution for flight schools that prefer to own their RedHawk aircraft
Over the next six months Brown Aviation Lease will be testing the full rental solution including the pricing, software and service delivery to validate its impact on flight school margins. Infinity Flight Group, the Marine Military Academy, and Aerosim Flight Academy have joined as launch partners for the six-month trial.
Pricing for the launch period consists of a blended rate comprised of a fixed fee and an hourly rate conducive to high utilization environments. A flight school with a monthly utilization of 70 hours would pay a combined implicit rate of $81 per hour.
Included in that rate is:
- Utilization up to 1,200 hours annually;
- All scheduled engine maintenance including parts, consumables and labor;
- Accruals for engine replacement at 1,500 hours; and
- Access to Brown’s fleet management software.
“Beginning this fall, Brown is providing access to a modern training aircraft at a price point that is an attractive addition and asset to our program and current fleet of aircraft. The addition of the software and services, helps us maintain our dedication to quality, safety, reliability, and performance to turn students into successful airline pilots and exceed the expectations of airlines worldwide,” states Hank Coates, vice president of Aerosim and executive director of Aerosim Flight Academy located in Central Florida.
As a proxy, a flight school operating out of Plymouth Municipal Airport (KPYM) at 70 hours/month charging rental customers $160 wet/no instructor for a RedHawk aircraft would have an estimated hourly margin of 29 percent based on the following:
- $6,000 annual insurance cost
- $5.39 per gallon of Jet-A (retail price of fuel at KPYM)
- $2.00 hourly accrual for unscheduled maintenance
“For a flight school that puts a lot of hours on our aircraft, the RedHawk powered by Brown program is a no brainer. By having everything packaged into one platform, we can now re-focus much of our time on training students,” says Gregory John, owner of Infinity Flight Group (formerly Mercer Flight Academy).
(RedHawk aircraft pictured in file photo)
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