By Grant Brown
The Future of Aviation Insurance Is Here
I’ve recently been searching to buy a training aircraft with some fellow CFIs that would like to train our kids. I started my training in a Cessna 172 over 20 years ago, then transitioning to the military pipeline and now working for a major air carrier. With two daughters (Lucy, 16, and Heidi, 10) it’s time to invest in their future spending some quality time on flight instruction. We’ve been on the hunt for a mid-‘70s Cessna 172 with a “make this fun and easy” avionics setup. I am fairly new back in the world of general aviation (only 400 hours in a single-engine piston aircraft). I was concerned about insurance prices and the ability to insure my daughter, as well as endorse her solo flight. You always hear horror stories about how expensive and complicated an airplane and flight instruction can be.
I decided to do comparative quotes with SkyWatch, a 2016 privately held specialty Insurtech broker headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif. If I’m teaching the next generation, why not leverage some of their artificial intelligence technology to expedite my research. Their website is intuitive and easy to use from my mobile device. My first quote was completed in seven minutes, with the ability to see the premium, adjust coverage, and pay for the policy (i.e., go from uninsured to insured in less than 10 minutes).
Once starting a quote, you have the opportunity to add memberships (ALPA, AOPA, EAA, etc.) for possible discounts. You can pull all aircraft specific data from a simple registration number lookup, which was especially helpful for an aircraft I don’t yet own but have been keeping a close eye on. I entered the desired hull value coverage, airport identifier (which automatically pulled details) and selected the option that it would be hangered. Too easy
My first quote was completed in seven minutes, with the ability to see the premium, adjust coverage, and pay for the policy (i.e., go from uninsured to insured in less than 10 minutes).
I worried as I pressed to the next “Pilot” section. Having a student pilot with 2.0 hours total time on our aircraft insurance policy had me convinced the website would crash or result in being denied a policy. That was not the case at all. Clicking “Save and Continue” resulted in a 30-second thinking screen and an immediate quote for proposed coverage. The website allowed me to adjust liability and physical damage coverage in real time and immediately see the impact on the premium. The premium is comparable to other aviation insurance brokers, so I was quite impressed with the speed and accuracy of the quote.
Downloading the quote allowed me to dig into more of the details of the policy. I was able to see each pilot named on the policy, with a note that if any pilot had less than five hours, he/she would be required to get a checkout from a Certified Flight Instructor within 12 months and immediately prior to acting as Pilot In Command. That makes sense to me and gives me confidence Lucy will be covered through her flight training with this policy. It also includes an open pilot policy for any pilot (private or above) with 300 hours total time and 25 hours in make/model (5 within last 12 months) to be covered by this policy. Of course, being an individual ownership policy (vs. club or commercial), only named parties can receive instruction under this policy. That was similar across other insurance brokerages as well. So far, everything seems great and aligns with my expectations.
Being of a certain age, sometimes I like to actually talk to a person on the phone and make sure what I think I’m buying is what they think they are selling. Since I received an email about my quote that included a direct number to a “Senior Account Manager,” I decided to give them a call. I was pleased James picked up at the second ring and was very professional and cordial. I discussed the quote with the representative and explained my intent behind the policy. We spent some time discussing nuances between private ownership, clubs, and commercial insurance and decided based on the small group we have at this time, the policy I created would be ideal. We said our goodbyes and I felt confident I had found a good fit (fast, accurate, and available if needed).
Although we are still looking for the right aircraft, I’m confident this new tool in aviation insurance will help get us insured once we find it. Then we can focus on what really matters, spending time together and figuring out that flare picture!
For more information about SkyWatch, visit
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Grant Brown was active in USAF avionics maintenance out of high school. He left the AF to pursue becoming an F16 pilot and obtained an electrical engineering degree with minors in mathematics and astronomy. He joined the Air National Guard in 2007, and he earned F16 initial qualification, flight lead, mission commander, instructor, evaluator, director of operations and commander. Brown attended a USAF weapons instructor course in 2015 and taught there from 2016 to 2018. He has deployed five times to Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Afghanistan, and Korea. He has 3600 hours, about 250 in combat, primarily in a F16 Block 50 “Wild Weasel.” He joined a major air carrier in 2019 (right seat of the Triple 7). He owns a H35 Bonanza he recently upgraded and loves flying. His leadership philosophy is, “Listen, Support, Solve” and his go-to phrase is “Just Do.” Brown has known his wife since 2nd grade and has two daughters, Lucy, 16, and Heidi, 10
