Naples Air Center doesn't respond -- any alternatives?

[Zonkor]

I'm going to Florida (Naples area) over Xmas / New Year's and wanted to do some light VFR touring in a single-engine plane around Florida, maybe with a hop over to the Bahamas. I'm looking for a reasonable price, without renting a death trap, low daily minimums, and for a fair and solid customer experience.

I tried to contact Naples Air Center several times since February via their web page, but never received any reply.

I don't feel like chasing them with calls, as this initial impression seems to confirm the shaky image that others have reported here, and they simply don't seem interested in my business.

Can you recommend any good places around Naples where to rent an airplane (and for renewing my US medical)?

Thanks,

Michael

[Cusco]

Cop out: Pick up the phone and ring them....

Cusco

[Flying Lawyer]

I did some flying at two Naples schools a few years ago.
I was entirely satisfied with customer service, aircraft and instructors at both schools and would happily fly or train with either again - but they were different.

Naples Air Center
Richard Gentil (Owner) and all the FIs were friendly and helpful.
The Warriors I flew were old, as they usually are at UK flying schools/clubs, but that didn't bother me. I'm used to flying vintage aircraft a lot older than that. It performed and handled well and I had no reason to doubt that it was properly maintained. (Their C172s are newer but I wanted Warrior time.)

RexAir
RexAir is newer but well established and has a good reputation. The atmosphere was welcoming, helpful and professional. When I asked about the C172 I'd be renting for a trip to Key West a couple of days later I was invited to inspect their aircraft. The C172 I flew was in immaculate condition - one of the newest school/flying club aircraft I've ever flown.
RexAir dedication to customer satisfaction was second to none that I've encountered over a few decades' flying in the UK and in several other parts of the world, including other states in the US.

Cost(s)
Although flying in America is much cheaper than in Europe the actual cost is often higher than appears in the advertised rates. It's important to establish before you fly precisely what will be charged and how it will be charged.
eg

• Is there a fuel surcharge? If so, how much is it per hour?
• American schools commonly charge for pre and post flight briefings as 'Ground Instruction'. If there is a charge, what is the rate? (Distinguishing between instruction and general conversation can be tricky.)
• If you fly dual and land away, will you be charged for FI time on the ground? I haven't experienced that in the UK but American schools usually charge. If so, is it at full or reduced rate?

Naples Airport

Busy (average 300 movements per day), mainly corporate jets and light aircraft, but the controllers are very efficient and there were no long frustrating waits on the ground with the Hobbs ticking up. Occasional instructions to hold before joining or to extend the circuit were no hardship – just a good excuse to see more of Naples’ glorious coastline at low level.

Everglades Airpark

About 28 nm from Naples. Very quiet - fewer than 100 movements per week.
Airboats and yachts passing very close to the 15 threshold can be a little disconcerting at first!

I highly recommend a flight to the southernmost point of continental North America.
Key West is an interesting place and the scenery en route is spectacular.

Overhead Everglades Airpark

An overcast morning so the picture doesn't do justice to the beauty of the area.
If you have time to spare I recommend visiting the Everglades. Fascinating, especially if you're interested in wildlife.



Downwind at Key West International



Base leg


The Overseas Highway (US 1) and Seven Mile Bridge











It's 2½-3 hours round-trip in a C172. We did some sight-seeing, and a touch and go at Florida Keys Marathon Airport on the way home, so it was 4 hours total.

[Keef]

I did my FAA IR and PPL (in that order) with Naples.

They are like many US flying schools in that they don't seem to check their e-mail boxes. I phoned, spoke to Nikki, arranged everything, and was impressed with them. That was a LONG time ago, but they are still there.

Nikki is UK-born.

[Zonkor]

Thanks for the information and pics. Looking forward even more to it now. :-)

[Genghis the Engineer]

I've yet to find any US school who routinely check and respond to emails either.

Myself, I would talk to smaller US oriented schools - they are generally pretty good as they are reliant upon repeat local business.

G

[9 lives]

Micheal, perhaps they read your post, and were put off...

I'm looking for a reasonable price, without renting a death trap, low daily minimums, and for a fair and solid customer experience.

I tried to contact Naples Air Center several times since February via their web page, but never received any reply.

I don't feel like chasing them with calls, as this initial impression seems to confirm the shaky image that others have reported here, and they simply don't seem interested in my business.

Honestly, if you walked up to their counter and used this phraseology, would you be surprised at a less than warm welcome?

I know that I choose my customers......

[India Four Two]

FL,

I was intrigued by your pictures of Everglades Airpark, so I looked it up.

Due to its remote location, in the 70s and 80s, Everglades City was a prime location for Marijuana smuggling. Known as "the city that dope built".

[Zonkor]

Step turn:

Not sure if I follow or if this was a tongue-in-cheek answer.

Since last December (not February as I wrote above) I sent several inquiries through their online form on their webpage and didn't get any reply. Obviously I didn't phrase it like my posting, quite funny you insinuate that.

If you have an online form and ignore any communication through it, I'm sure most people would find that quite frustrating. Especially in a matter that is about trust (airplane maintenance, doing business in a foreign country), and spending quite a bit of money.

Anyways, out of curiosity: What exactly in my "phraseology" did you find unreasonable from a customer perspective?

A business may have the right to choose its customers, although that seems like a quite luxurious situation. Customers certainly choose the business they engage with, and not replying to several customer enquiries is not conducive to a positive initial impression (unless aviation schools live in a strange parallel universe .

[Gertrude the Wombat]

If you have an online form and ignore any communication through it

The typical process always used to be:

1. Someone in a company spots the existence of this interweb thingy and decides "we have to have a web site".
2. 'Cos their business is making widgets, or giving flying lessons, or whatever, rather than building web sites, they contract the job out to a web site building company.
3. A "contact us" form is part of the standard package which is customised to create the site.
4. The contractor asks the customer where he wants the forms emailed to, and the customer gives his own hotmail address (after all, the company doesn't have a corporate email system yet).
5. Many years later, long after the original guy with the hotmail address has left the company and closed the hotmail account, the contact form is still sending its emails to the dead account.
6. As the company never signed a maintenance contract with the web site builder (that would cost money, and the web site isn't their core business, is it) there's nobody reading the logs and spotting the bounce messages.

Now, that used to be somewhat commonplace several years ago, but it's a bit disappointing if it's still happening in 2015.

[AndoniP]

I sent several inquiries through their online form

Just use the phone. Don't just rely on an email response, and most certainly don't judge the flight school on their inability to respond to emails.

[9 lives]

What exactly in my "phraseology" did you find unreasonable from a customer perspective?

Well... Personally, I would take the meaning from your post that you anticipate that the aircraft might be a death trap, over priced, that you might be unfairly treated, and that you might think the company "shaky". I could take offense at that, were I to be in the business of providing aircraft for rent. Just my perception, I don't mean to be offensive.

I provide aviation services for a living, and take pride in what I do. It would not be a good starting point, for a person wanting to do business with me to enter the conversation leaving me thinking that I would have to climb out of a hole to be good enough to start - I would decline the business.

I agree that there are businesses of all kinds who are less than adequate at responding to electronic communications. I too have found the effort of a phone call worthwhile in dispelling uncertainty.

[Heliport]

Surely all the OP was saying to us in the forum when asking for recommendations is that he's not looking for the cheapest deal, being aware - as often advised here - that going for the cheapest may not be the wisest course.
(Although it can be. More expensive does not necessarily mean better.)


I agree the link from no response to 'shakey' was silly.

[Keef]

No disagreement. I'd still pick up the phone and call NAC.

[9 lives]

saying to us in the forum

For myself, I'm never quite sure who that "us" would be. If I'm sitting in a room chatting with people I might have a better idea, but even then, I've learned that negative things said can come back around in an unwanted way.

I have noticed that both on the internet, and face to plane, planes can be assigned a perception of airworthiness, and labeled poorly with woefully ill informed judgement. I've seen and flown many fine aircraft which were looked down upon because their paint condition was poor. I stop in in a patchwork lego looking plane to hear unflattering comments about it, which are Ooos and Awes two weeks later when I fly it back from the paint shop. The airworthiness of the plane did not change!

We live in a small community, if we are so quick to rust to judgement about death trap aircraft and unfair commercial practice, we just erode the service providers we would like to have providing a quality service to us. If a service truly is not to your liking - after you have experienced it - you can just quietly not return. If in the rare event, something is truly dangerous, our regulators have put in place mechanisms to deal with that, and a public forum is not one of them....

Just my opinion, but it's a very experienced one.....

[Russell Gulch]

FL: Lovely pics.

I note theres a piece missing in one of the bridges. Possibly the one used in the Arnold Swartzaneger film?.

Hard to believe they built one bridge of that length, and then built another!

Russ

[Pilot DAR]

Hard to believe they built one bridge of that length, and then built another!

'Cause they blew a gap in the first one, in a really cool movie scene!

[VORTIME]

Suggest you look at skystead.com as an alternative.

VT