August 13
At Flight Schedule Pro, we’re thrilled to unveil updates within our Next Gen platform—a groundbreaking suite designed to heighten flight school operations. This major update is focused on automating the complex and arduous tasks of scheduling, training, billing, and payments to let flight schools focus on flying and training the next generation of pilots.
Why the Next Gen Platform Matters
As the aviation industry grapples with a global pilot shortage, the role of flight schools in training pilots quickly and efficiently has never been more crucial. Our Next Gen release is designed to help flight schools rise to this challenge by optimizing operations and accelerating training processes. By enhancing efficiency, we aim to support the aviation sector’s recovery and growth with a steady stream of well-trained pilots.
Nick Wegner, CEO of Flight Schedule Pro, highlights the importance of this update: “Next Gen Flight Schedule Pro is a critical step in flight school management technology. Our customers serve both students and global airlines faced with the pilot shortage. The new capabilities maximizes aircraft utilization, streamlines student progress tracking, and automates billing and operations, strengthening the connections between flight schools, their students, and airlines.”
Key Features of Next Gen Flight Schedule Pro
Our Next Gen platform introduces several game-changing features:
Intelligent Scheduling - Coming Soon!
Define scheduling requirements for each lesson, including but not limited to aircraft type, lesson content, and instructor availability. Whether you need to schedule a specific course or even your entire fleet, our intelligent scheduler has got you covered. It generates an optimized schedule based on your business hours and GPS-integrated civil twilight data. Once generated, your scheduling staff can review and adjust the proposed schedule manually with drag-and-drop functionality that unlocks the ability to shift things around without committing to anything before finalizing and publishing, ensuring that it perfectly meets your needs
Experience a new era of efficiency with the smartest scheduling solution on the market. Scheduling your fleet has never been easier or faster!
Accelerated Training
Introducing the latest evolution of Training Hub, embracing the industry’s shift towards ‘Academy Style Training’ with our new Multi-Course Training functionality. Next Gen Training provides complete visibility into graduation timelines. Not only can flight schools monitor current enrollments, but capture a clear view into future training plans and assess progress toward upcoming milestones. With the ability to combine multiple courses and add optional timelines, you can now seamlessly track progress across various programs, moving beyond cumbersome spreadsheets to a fully integrated management system.
Whether your students are in accelerated programs or pursuing individual certifications, it is often necessary to track non-standard maneuvers or track custom flight hours. With Custom Hour Types and Totals, you can now easily create and monitor any specific maneuvers or hour types you need—be it Low Flying, Mountain Flying, Terrain & Weather Awareness, Approaches, Water Landings, or even Water Emergencies.
Step into the future of flight training management with Training Hub, where streamlined processes and enhanced visibility enable you to better support your students and drive success.
Autopilot Billing
We’ve always focused on helping flight schools accelerate the billing cycle and reduce manual data entry, and Autopilot Billing takes this to the next level. Our platform puts billing on autopilot by auto-generating invoices as soon as a flight is checked in, streamlining financial operations. Configure each activity to automatically charge a card on file, eCheck, or account, and choose when these transactions should be processed—immediately, or on your preferred schedule.
To support the growing demands of high-performance flight schools, we’ve upgraded our payment processing capabilities. Flight Schedule Pro’s Preferred Merchant Account offers:
- Elevated processing capabilities that match your ambitions
- Enhanced tools that simplify your payment processes and streamline operations
- Introduction of new services, enriched features, and versatile payment methods, including the much-anticipated eCheck option.
- New wireless device support including tap and chip capabilities and Mac support
Unlock a boost in growth and efficiency with our upgraded payment platform, crafted to meet the evolving needs of your flight operations.
Maximizing Aircraft Utilization
A major challenge for flight schools is maximizing aircraft usage. Our Next Gen platform addresses this by optimizing scheduling and aircraft utilization, increasing training capacity without the need for additional aircraft purchases. This results in improved profitability and faster student progression.
Ed Bagden, Director of Operations at LIFT Academy, shares his experience: “Flight Schedule Pro’s Next Gen platform has been transformative for Lift. We’ve leveraged the data provided by FSP to optimize our operations, make data-driven decisions, and maximize aircraft utilization. This has allowed us to graduate top-notch pilots who join Republic Airlines.”
Next Steps
Next Gen features are unlocked with a Suite subscription, while Autopilot Billing is available for users of Flight Schedule Pro's Preferred Merchant Account. Are you a Flight Schedule Pro customer who does not have a merchant account yet? Sign up here.
Our customers are actively helping us refine the functionality and algorithms of Intelligent Scheduling. If you’re interested in participating in our beta program, please reach out to your CSM.
Stay tuned for more updates and insights on how Flight Schedule Pro continues to shape the future of flight school management!
New to Flight Schedule Pro and interested in seeing these features in action? Schedule a demo with our team!
