Skyfarer, the nationwide marketplace for general aviation training and services, has launched Open Requests — a new listing category that lets pilots post what they’re looking for and have flight instructors, flight schools, and aviation service providers come to them. A student pilot, current pilot, or aircraft owner describes what they need, where they are, and when they want to start. The request becomes visible to every relevant provider on Skyfarer, and any of them can respond. Every response arrives attached to the provider’s full Skyfarer profile, so pilots can compare qualified options side by side rather than evaluating a message in isolation.
The feature is live now and free to use, with more than 100 open requests created during the beta period.
The Problem: Aviation Search Runs One Direction
General aviation often works in only one direction. Someone looking for training, a checkride, an endorsement, or a service finds providers one at a time, reaches out one at a time, and often never hears back. The burden of the search sits entirely with the person who needs help.
That burden falls hardest on the people least equipped to carry it — someone at the very beginning, who doesn’t yet know which questions to ask, which schools are reputable, or how long a reply should reasonably take.
Open Requests reverse the flow.
How Open Requests Work
Requests reach the marketplace two ways.
Pilots can post one directly. Describe what you need, where you are, and when you want to start. The request goes out to every relevant provider on the platform.
Private inquiries can be republished. When someone sends an inquiry to a single provider, Skyfarer can — with the sender’s consent — republish it as an open request, so the person isn’t left waiting on one inbox.
Requests cover flight training and the wider set of aviation services available on the platform.
Responses Pilots Can Actually Evaluate
The difference between a request that generates replies and one that generates useful replies is what a pilot can see about who’s responding.
Every response on Skyfarer arrives attached to the provider’s profile, so the decision is never made on a message alone. A pilot reviewing responses can see:
- The instructor’s certificates and ratings
- Experience
- Location and home airport
- Availability
- Rates
- Reviews from other pilots on the platform
That means one request can produce several qualified options, presented in a form that can actually be compared before deciding who to talk to.
The Demand Data Behind It
Demand is arriving faster than the industry generally assumes.
Skyfarer serves nearly 14,000 users across all 50 states, and training inquiries on the platform have grown a steady 60–100% month over month in recent months — giving the company a direct view of how pilots discover and evaluate training.
July 2026 set an all-time record for training inquiries at nine times the volume of August 2025, and roughly two-thirds of all inquiries in Skyfarer’s history arrived in the last six months.
The urgency in those inquiries is the striking part:
- 82% of students say they want to begin training within a month
- 47% want to begin within two weeks
- Only 5% describe themselves as just researching
The inquiries also skew earlier in the training pipeline than most industry marketing assumes. Nearly two-thirds are at the very start:
- 46% are pursuing a private pilot certificate
- 17% are looking for a discovery or first flight
Instrument, commercial, and endorsement training each account for a smaller share.
Why the Response Window Matters
“Every CFI and school knows the student who almost started training and didn’t,” said Nick Tsang, founder and CEO of Skyfarer. “Usually it wasn’t about money or motivation. Somebody just never wrote back. We built this so one busy inbox can’t end an aviation career before it starts.”
The timing data makes the point concrete. When nearly half of prospective students want to begin within two weeks, the speed of a reply isn’t a customer service detail — it determines whether the training happens at all.
“When someone tells you they want to fly in the next two weeks, a reply three weeks later is the same as no reply at all,” Nick added. “That is the window this closes.”
Reaching the Market Without Giving Up Your Inbox
Posting publicly usually means surrendering your privacy. Skyfarer’s system — the subject of a pending patent application — removes personal contact details from every request before it publishes, so a pilot can reach the whole market without handing their phone number to it.
For Flight Schools, CFIs, and Service Providers
Flight training and aviation service providers can create a Skyfarer account for free, list what they offer, and browse and respond to open requests directly from their accounts.
The reach behind those requests:
- 470,000+ Google search impressions per month
- 100,000+ pageviews per month
- 3,600 flight training and aviation service listings
That reach was built steadily. From Q4 2025 to Q2 2026, search impressions grew 3.5 times, new signups grew 66%, and organic search traffic grew 82%.
How to find Open Requests: providers can browse them from the dropdown menu in the top navigation bar. Signed-in providers will also see an “I want to help — explore recently posted requests” entry point directly on the Skyfarer homepage, placed alongside the main search, so responding to a request is as easy as posting a listing.
Available Now
Open Requests are live on Skyfarer, which connects student pilots with instructors, flight schools, aircraft sellers, and aviation service providers across all 50 states.
Pilots can post what they’re looking for. Providers can answer.
Get started at skyfareracademy.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are Skyfarer Open Requests? Open Requests are a listing category on Skyfarer that lets pilots post what they’re looking for — flight training, a checkride, an endorsement, or another aviation service — instead of contacting providers one at a time. The request becomes visible to every relevant flight instructor, flight school, and aviation service provider on the platform, and any of them can respond. Requests cover both flight training and the wider set of aviation services available on Skyfarer.
How do I post an open request? Pilots can post a request directly on Skyfarer, describing what they need, where they are, and when they want to start. Alternatively, when a pilot sends a private inquiry to a single provider, Skyfarer can republish it as an open request with the sender’s consent, so the pilot isn’t left waiting on one inbox.
Will posting a request expose my contact information? No. Skyfarer’s system, which is the subject of a pending patent application, removes personal contact details from every request before it publishes. Pilots can reach the entire marketplace without making their phone number or email public.
How do I evaluate the responses I receive? Every response arrives attached to the responding provider’s Skyfarer profile, so pilots can see certificates and ratings, experience, location and home airport, availability, rates, and reviews from other pilots on the platform. Responses can be compared side by side before deciding who to contact, meaning a single request can produce several qualified options in a form that’s actually comparable.
How can flight schools and CFIs respond to open requests? Flight training and aviation service providers can create a Skyfarer account at no cost, list what they offer, and browse and respond to open requests directly from their account. Open Requests are accessible from the dropdown menu in the top navigation bar, and signed-in providers also see an entry point on the Skyfarer homepage alongside the main search.
