PASA MEMBERSHIP PRICING FOR SMALL BUSINESS FLIGHT SCHOOLS
Below is the 2017 Dues Schedule. The most costly and complex of the member services is the ability to add Small Business Flight Schools (SBFS) and the landowners where they teach as additional insureds on PASA’s own Master Flight School policy.
PASA, as a founding member of Recreation Risk Retention Group, Inc. (RRRG), is the Named Insured under a Master Flight School policy of insurance written by RRRG. RRRG allows PASA to add SBFS that meet RRRG’s underwriting criteria as Additional Insureds under the Master Flight School Policy and also allows PASA to add landowners of sites where SBFS teach as Additional Insureds under the Master Flight School Policy.
PASA’s Master Flight School policy has limits of $250K per Occurrence/ $1M Aggregate. That aggregate is shared by PASA and each of the flight schools and landowners that PASA requests, and RRRG allows, it to add on to its Master Flight School policy as additional insureds. Additional Insured Landowners (Sites) may be added with $1M per Occurrence / $1M Aggregate limits.
That cost to PASA of adding its small school members and their landowners on to its Master Flight School Policy is built into the SBFS membership dues.
Because school size varies, and the number of additional insured sites that a school utilizes varies and because the limits required by different landowners vary, the PASA dues schedule is somewhat complicated.
Bear in mind that PASA is a nonprofit. It’s mission is to support the free flight schools, not to profit off of them. PASA membership dues are priced to allow PASA to manage it’s schools’ needs, and acquiring insurance of benefit to its certified schools.
The pricing that you see here will not change for the 2017 season
When you join PASA as a SBFS, you will be asked to predict your yearly Teaching Activity Level. Teaching Activity Level is measured in Student Lesson Days (SLDs).
An SLD is defined as one (1) student being taught for any part of one (1) calendar day. For purposes of adding up your SLD’s you stop counting any student once you have counted five (5) SLD’s for that student during the same PASA membership year.
What this means is that if you have a student that is in a training program that requires more than five (5) days of training, you will not count more than 5 SLDs for that student over the course their training during the same PASA membership year.
Here are a few examples:
- You teach one (1) student on 3 different calendar days (or any part thereof) during the same PASA membership year: This counts as 3 SLDs.
- You teach four (4) students on any single calendar day (or any part thereof): This counts as 4 SLDs
- You teach one (1) student on seven (7) different calendar days (or any part thereof) during the same PASA membership year: This counts as 5 SLDs.
Using the above examples, you should be able to review your past records to predict the upcoming business and calculate your dues based upon your Teaching Activity Level.
PASA expects you to make a good faith acurate representation about your Teaching Activity Level when you apply for PASA membership. Intentionally falsifying any information you provide to PASA will be grounds for immediate and permanent revocation of your Certification, and removal of your school and your sites from additional insured status on PASA’s policy.
If your good faith estimate turns out to be wrong, don’t worry. PASA will simply adjust your dues to match your true Teaching Activity Level.
You can pay your annual dues all at once at the beginning of the year, or split them into 4 equal payments, due at the beginning of each quarter. If your Teaching Activity Level is greater than you originally estimated, your total annual dues will be adjusted in the quarter in which you teach more lessons than the Teaching Activity Level you estimated and you will need to catch up paying your dues at that time.
So, as a SBFS, how do you determine your membership dues?
Step 1. Calculate the number of SLDs that you expect to teach during the next 12 months;
Step 2. Find the line in the PASA SBFS Dues Chart that corresponds with your expected Teaching Activity Level;
Step 3. Find your Basic Dues number (Column 1 in the Dues Chart)
If you do not teach at a site that requires site insurance and you do not use any tow launch devices, this is your total dues. Otherwise, continue.
If you teach at a site that requires site insurance, then go to step 4, otherwise, skip to step 5.
Step 4. Count the number of sites where you teach that require site insurance of $1M/$1M, and multiply that by the Dues amount for each additionally insured site (Column 2 in the Dues Chart)
Add this number to your Basic Dues.
If you use a tow device in your school, continue to steps 5, 6, 7 and/or 8, as applicable to your tow operation.
Step 5. If your operation uses aerotow vehicles, count the number of aerotow vehicles you use, and multiply that by the Dues amount for Each Scheduled Aerotow Vehicles (Column 3 in the Dues Chart);
Step 6. If your operation uses static winches to tow launch, count the number of static winches that you use, and multiply that by the Dues amount for Each Scheduled Static Winch (Column 4 in the Dues Chart);
Step 7. If your operation uses payout winches mounted on an automobile/truck or trailer to tow launch, count the number of payout winches that you use, and multiply that by the Dues amount for Each Scheduled Payout Winch (Auto/Trailer Mounted) (Column 5 in the Dues Chart);
Step 8. If your operation uses payout winches mounted on a boat to tow launch, count the number of payout winches that you use, and multiply that by the Dues amount for Each Scheduled Payout Winch (Boat Mounted) (Column 6 in the Dues Chart);
Add up each of these numbers to get your total dues.
Here are some examples.
- You teach approx. 10 students per year – to become pilots, then each student will need more than 5 days of training. Since you only count the first 5 SLDs for each individual student (during any given PASA membership year), your Teaching Activity Level is 50 SLDs (10 students X 5 SLD = 50 SLD). Row B in the Dues Chart lists your dues. Your Basic Dues are found in Column 1: $935.
- Using the above scenario, let’s say you teach at 3 different sites. One site is a hill where the landowner does not require insurance. The second is a landing zone and the landowner of the LZ does not require insurance. The third site is a launch that requires landowner insurance with limits of $1M per occurrence and $1M aggregate.
So you teach at only one site that needs site insurance. Your Additionally Insured Site Dues are found by following Row B over to Column 2: $158. To calculate your total dues, add your Basic Dues of $935 to the Site Dues of $158, for a total Dues of $1,093.
- Using the above scenario, lets say that your business improves during the year and you end up taking on additional students that you had not anticipated. As you achieve a Teaching Activity Level greater than 50 SLDs, your Annual Dues will be adjusted and youwill be billed the difference.
- Lets take another scenario of a school who teaches a mix of hill lessons and tandem intro lessons. Using your records from past years you find that you your business generally does about 15 introductory tandem lessons and you teach 3 students in lesson packages to the Novice level. You also have about 6 students that sign up for single day hill lessons that generally do not progress past the first day. Now let’s do the math for your level of Teaching Activity in SLDs:
15 tandem intro lessons = 15 SLDs
3 committed students (at 5 max SLDs each) = 15 SLDs
6 students who take a single day hill lesson = 6 SLDs
Total estimated SLDs (at the same level of business) 36 SLDs
- In this scenario you would find the row on the Dues Chart that includes your level of business – in this case the 26-50 SLD (Row B on the Dues Chart). If you do teach at any sites where the landowner requires insurance, and you do not tow, your dues are the Basic Dues at Row B, Column 1: $935. This can be paid all at once or broken up into 4 quarterly payments.
- Let’s take an aerotow park scenario. Your school uses an aerotow vehicle strictly for tow launching students. You have only one aerotow vehicle. You own the land and you do not want to insure yourself as landowner. You do 75 introductory tandem lessons each year. You also teach 5 students to the Novice level. Here is the math for calculating your Teaching Activity Level in SLDs:
75 Tandem intro lessons = 75 SLDs
5 committed students (at 5 max SLDs each) = 25 SLDs
TOTAL estimated SLDs 100 SLDs
In this scenario, there are two components to your PASA SBFS Dues: 1) Basic Dues; and 2) Additional for your one scheduled aerotow vehicle.
Your Teaching Activity Level puts you in row D. Your Basic Dues are found at Row D, Column 1: $1540. Your Additional Dues for your scheduled aerotow vehicles are found at Row D, Column 3: $367. Adding them together gives you your total dues of $1,907. This can be paid all at once or broken up into 4 quarterly payments.
Once PASA starts certifying SBFS members, the SBFS will be able to go to the proper page on our website to pay for the annual membership. To make it easier to afford your membership, you can pay quarterly. PASA will charge no extra fee for quarterly payments.
NOTE: We have had a few questions about what type of student counts as the student in an SLD. Specifically if someone is teaching advanced instruction or teaching instructors to be better instructors etc. The official PASA policy on this is:
They ALL count. A student is a student, whether a beginner, advanced, master, instructor candidate or whatever. . . .
Your SBFS level is based on your business activity. As you teach students of any type, your business activity increases.