copy of letter i sent off to the editor
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing to express my feelings about the article on University Degrees in the latest Flight Safety Magazine. Firstly I would like to “declare my hand”. I own a medium sized flying school with 20 aircraft, 20 instructors and approximately 200 students. We have no affiliation with any University. I felt that your magazine has strayed away from safety related matters and more towards interest based journalism. After reading the article it would appear to me that a payment was made to CASA for this content, although there was no mention of it being an advertising feature. It was very one sided, and did not present the argument from “the other side of the fence”. As the purpose of this industry funded magazine is to promote safety, I could find no factual statistics indicating the increased contribution to safety of the University Trained Pilot. Your article will have a negligible effect on my business; however I was surprised to read such obvious marketing in a magazine that previously held credibility. I respectfully request the opportunity to present the other side of the argument containing some factual statistics. If indeed a payment was made then I am offering to equal that payment for an equal amount of space dedicated to industry based training. I am not indicating that I feel one approach to Flight Training is necessarily better than the other and I appreciate that they both have their merits. Perhaps such articles could be reserved for the traditional magazines and you could put your efforts and our money into serious contributions to flight safety. Very disappointing to see the downward spiral in the quality of this magazine continue.
Yours Sincerely
Glen Buckley
Last edited by glenb; 9th Jul 2010 at 13:05.