January Gets Decided in October
Pull up your schedule for the second week of January and count the open blocks. This free checklist gives you four moves to fill December through February, and you can start every one this week with what you already have.
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Free checklist Flight School Winter Schedule Checklist
In October the ramp is busy and the phone keeps ringing. Nobody has time to think about winter. Then January shows up. Frost on the wings until ten, and a 172 that sits tied down all week.
Most schools start marketing when the schedule thins out. By then, the people who were going to book have already made up their minds. The schools with a full January set it up while it was still fall.
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Three groups decide your winter by December
Gift buyers, this year's inquiries, and New Year starters. Most schools talk to none of them before it is too late.
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Weather costs you the students you have
Weather is the second most common reason students quit, right behind cost. A student who stops flying in January may not come back in March.
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The quiet months pay off in the spring
A January ground school student solos by spring. The reviews you collect this winter are what new students read when searches pick back up.
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You can start with what you already have
Your website, your inquiry list, your CFIs, and your current students. None of the four moves needs a new tool or a big budget.
Four Moves to Fill December Through February
The checklist is built from our live webinar, How to Fill Your Flight School's Winter Schedule Before It Starts. Each move comes with the steps to take this week, a quick check you can run on your own school, and the part that usually goes wrong.
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Move 1: A Holiday Gift Offer
How to let family and friends buy a discovery flight as a gift, and what has to be live before Thanksgiving
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Move 2: The Callback List
The people most likely to book this winter already know you. How to find them, sort them, and give them a reason to come back now
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Move 3: A Winter Ground School Class
How to turn the days you cannot fly into a class with a start date, a price, and a page people can find
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Move 4: A Slow Season Review Push
When students have time to write reviews, and the one way of asking that works better than a text
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Your Winter on One Page
Every move laid out from October to February, so you know what to set up this month and what can wait
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The Scoreboard
Four boxes to check off, and the one thing that breaks each move if you skip it
Two Tests You Can Run Today
Before you download anything, try these on your own school. Each one takes about ten seconds.
If either one stings, that is not a knock on you. You were busy flying, which is exactly when these get set up.
- The gift test. On your phone, try to buy a discovery flight as a gift from your own website. Can you finish in two minutes without calling anyone?
- The list test. How many people contacted your school this year and never booked? If you cannot answer, that list does not exist yet.
The checklist has a check like this for every move. It tells you where your school stands right now, then gives you the steps to close the gap before the snow shows up.
Download Your Free Copy
No credit card. No catch. Four moves, a ten second check for each, and a one-page plan for October through February.
Start This Week, Fill January
None of this requires a warm January. It requires a few decisions in October and November, while you still have time to make them.
What Happens Next:
- Step 1: Enter your info below
- Step 2: Check your inbox for the download link
- Step 3: Run the ten second check on all four moves
- Step 4: Pick the move that fails first and start it this week
- Step 5: Follow the one-page plan from now through February
Questions about this checklist
What is the Winter Schedule Checklist?
It is a short PDF with four moves that fill a flight school's schedule from December through February. Each move has the steps to take this week, a ten second check you can run on your own school, and the part that usually goes wrong. It ends with a one-page plan for October through February.
When should I start using it?
As early in the fall as you can. January gets decided in October and November, while the ramp is still busy. Some moves need to be live before Thanksgiving, so the sooner you run the checks, the more of the winter you can fill.
We train in Florida. Is this still useful?
Yes. In Florida, Arizona, and south Texas, winter is the busy season. The four moves stay the same and the calendar flips. The checklist includes a section on how to adjust the timing for warm climate schools.
Do I need new software or a big budget?
No. Every move starts with what you already have: your website, your inquiry list, your CFIs, and your current students. A CRM makes the follow-up easier, but you can start each move this week without buying anything.
I missed the webinar. Can I still use the checklist?
Yes. The checklist was built as a companion to our live webinar on filling the winter schedule, but it stands on its own. Everything you need to run the four moves is in it.
Is the checklist really free?
Yes. No credit card and no strings attached. Fill out the form and it lands in your inbox. We want more schools flying through the winter. Let's train more pilots.
Get your free Flight School Winter Schedule Checklist
Fill in the form and the Flight School Winter Schedule Checklist lands in your inbox straight away.
- Four winter moves, each with tick-box steps you can start this week
- A ten second check for every move, so you know where your school stands
- The hard part of each move, and how schools get stuck on it
- A one-page October to February plan, month by month
- A flipped calendar for schools in Florida, Arizona, and south Texas
- A scoreboard to test whether your school is ready for winter
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