Form 516 FAA General Aviation Survey

Federal Aviation Administration

Department of Transportation

General Aviation Pilot Satisfaction Survey 2012

Questionnaire Notes:

• Survey to be administered via email

• Section headers and question numbers will not appear to interviewees

• All questions will have a ‘Don’t Know/Not Applicable’ response option.

Survey Introduction

Thank you for agreeing to participate in this survey, which will take approximately 10 minutes to complete. CFI Group, an independent research and consulting firm, is conducting this study. Your responses will remain strictly confidential and anonymous. CFI Group will aggregate your responses with others before reporting the data to the FAA Department of Transportation.

This customer satisfaction survey is for the Aviation Safety organization within the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The Aviation Safety organization is responsible for several areas:

· Developing rules and regulations for the National Airspace System;

· The certification, production approval, and continued airworthiness of aircraft;

· The certification and surveillance of pilots, mechanics, designees and other aviation personnel, including medical exams and licenses; and

· The certification and surveillance of all U.S. civil aviation operational and maintenance organizations, such as air carriers, schools, repair stations, and others.

Other FAA organizations such as the Air Traffic Organization will conduct separate surveys to address their responsibilities. The primary service of the Air Traffic Organization is to move air traffic safely and efficiently.

Please Note: This survey is not about air traffic services the FAA provides, such as air traffic control or Flight Service Stations.

When answering the survey, please provide answers that relate to the Aviation Safety organization responsibilities listed above.

Introduction Questions

Q1. Are you currently a licensed pilot?

1. Yes

2. No {TERMINATE}

3. Don’t know {TERMINATE}

4. Refused {TERMINATE}

Q2. Do you hold a student pilot certificate?

1. Yes {TERMINATE}

2. No

3. Don’t know

4. Refused

Q2a. In the last 24 months how many flight hours did you accrue in exercising the use of your pilot license other than for an airline, air cargo or charter operator?

1. None {TERMINATE}

2. 1 to 200

3. 201 to 700 hours

4. More than 700

5. Don’t know {TERMINATE}

6. Refused {TERMINATE}

Certification

Please think only about your general aviation flying experiences in the past 24 months when answering the following survey questions

Q3. How accurately do the results of the pilot certification process reflect your skills and knowledge? Using a 10 point scale on which ”1” means not at all accurate and “10” means very accurate, how accurate do you consider the certification of pilots?

Q4. Who conducted your most recent pilot certification check ride?

1. FAA Aviation Safety Inspector

2. Designee

Q5. How competent in terms of being knowledgeable and familiar was the person giving you the pilot certification check ride with the type of aircraft and operational environment in which the test was conducted? Using a 10 point scale on which ”1” means not very competent, and ”10” means very competent, how competent was the person giving you the check ride?

Policies, Standards, Regulations

Q6. In relation to what the FAA does to promote aviation safety, is the information on policies, standards, and regulations clear and understandable? Using a 10-point scale on which ”1” means not at all clear and understandable, and ”10” means very clear and understandable, how clear and understandable are the policies, standards, and regulations?

Q7. How many of the FAA’s Flight Standard District Offices (FSDO) did you interact with during the past two years?

1. None – did not interact with any FSDOs during the past two years (Skip to Q14)

2. One (Continue with Q8)

3. Two or more (Continue with Q8)

Q8. Did your FSDO interaction involve a Pilot Deviation or Incident investigation?

1. Yes (Continue with Q9)

2. No (skip to logic above Q12)

3. Don’t know (skip to logic above Q12)

4. Refused (skip to logic above Q12)

Q9. What was the result of the Pilot Deviation or Incident investigation?

1. Certificate Action (suspension, revocation)

2. Letter of Warning

3. Remedial Training (ground and/or flight instruction)

4. Other: please specify

Q10. Considering the action taken, do you feel it:

1. Improved your level of operational safety & awareness

2. Did nothing to change your level of safety & awareness

3. Negatively impacted your level of safety & awareness (if selected ask Q11)

Q11. Why do you feel the action taken negatively impacted your level of safety & awareness? (open)

(IF Q7=2 Ask Q12 and skip to Q14)

(IF Q7=3 ask Q12, Q13 and continue with Q14)

Q12. Using a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 is Poor and 10 is Excellent, please rate the degree to which policies, standards and regulations are effectively communicated to you at the Flight Standards District Office.

Q13. Using a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 is Poor and 10 is Excellent, please rate the degree to which policies, standards and regulations are applied consistently across Flight Standards District Offices.

Q14. Using a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 is Poor and 10 is Excellent, please rate how consistent is the application of standards and regulations among the following:

14a. FAA Aviation Safety Inspectors

14b. Designees

Q15. How well do the FAA standards established for the regulation of pilots contribute to

aviation safety? Using a 10 point scale on which ”1” means not at all well and ”10” means very well, how well do FAA regulations concerning pilots contribute to aviation safety?

Q16. Using a 10 point scale on which ”1” means not at all well and ”10” means very well , please rate how well FAA guidance (Advisory Circulars, Handbooks, etc.) meet your needs as a general aviation pilot?

Q17. Using a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 is very difficult and 10 is very easy; please rate how easy it is to find FAA guidance on FAA websites.

Q18. How many courses have you taken on faasafety.gov in the last two years?

1. None

2. 1

3. 2-5

4. 6 or more

Q18a. (Ask if Q18 not “none”) Do you feel that the courses taken on faasafety.gov were valuable?

1. Yes

2. No

Q18b. (Ask if Q18a = “No”) Why do you feel that the courses taken on faasafety.com were not valuable? (open)

ACSI Benchmarks

Q19. First, please consider all your experiences to date with the Federal Aviation

Administration (Inspectors and Designees) in relation to safety and pilot certification. Using a 10 point scale on which ”1” means very dissatisfied and “10” means very satisfied, how SATISFIED are you with the FAA?

Q20. Considering all of your expectations for the FAA in relation to safety and certification, to what extent has the FAA fallen short of your expectations or exceeded your expectations? Using a 10-point scale on which "1" now means "falls short of your expectations" and "10" means "exceeds your expectations," to what extent has the FAA fallen short of or exceeded your expectations?

Q21. Forget about the FAA for a moment. Now, I want you to imagine an ideal agency

promoting the safety of aviation. How well do you think the FAA compares

with that ideal agency? Please use a 10-point scale on which "1" means "not very close

to the ideal," and "10" means "very close to the ideal."

Outcome Measures

Q22. Have you complained to the FAA (FSDO only) within the past two years?

1. Yes

2. No

3. Don't know

4. Refused

{IF Q22 = 1 ASK Q23 – Q26; OTHERWISE GO TO Q27}

Q23. What was the subject of your complaint?

Q24. What office did you make your complaint to?

Q25. How was your most recent complaint handled? Using a 10-point scale on

which ”1” means handled very poorly and ”10” means handled very well, how would

you rate the handling of your complaint?

Q26. How difficult or easy was it to make your most recent complaint? Using a 10-point scale on which ”1” means very difficult and “10” means very easy, how difficult or easy was it to make a complaint?

Q27. How confident are you that the Federal Aviation Administration will do a good job in the future of promoting aviation safety? Using a 10 point scale on which ”1” means not at all confident and ”10” means very confident, how confident are you that the FAA will do a good job in the future of promoting aviation safety?

Q28. Does your experience with the FAA lead you to believe that overall, General Aviation pilots will be willing to comply with FAA rules in the future? Using a 10 point scale

on which “1” means not at all willing to comply and “10” means very willing to

comply, how willing do you think General Aviation will be to comply with FAA rules

in the future?

Q29. What changes could be done to improve compliance?

Conclusion

Q30. What specific things can the FAA do to increase your satisfaction with the services it provides in respect to safety and certification?

Thank you for your time. The FAA Department of Transportation sincerely appreciates your input. Please click on the "Finish" button below to submit your answers.