The number of flying clubs in Brazil is decreasing, and a wave of evictions due to airport concessions continues.

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However, in the cabin, the atmosphere in some of this category is less than festive. The long road for pilots to become qualified to fly commercial aircraft begins in flight school, but many pilots are threatened by a wave of real estate evictions.

Non-profit flying clubs proliferated in the 1940s thanks to a campaign by media mogul Assis Chateaubriand and then-Aviation Minister Salgado Filho. According to Anac, 87 locations are currently operational, representing 33% of the country’s 258 civil aviation instruction centers. According to industry insiders, there were at least twice as many in the last century, and the number is decreasing every year.

Since 2016, at least 38 flying clubs are facing problems, according to a survey conducted by the Public Hearing Council of the São Paulo Legislative Assembly (Alesp), which discusses the topic. Sixteen of these companies closed their doors.

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This process coincides with the concession to the private sector of regional airports, which typically house these institutions. But this also happened on terminals controlled by state-owned company Infraero.

This is the case of Aeroclub de São Paulo, which was founded in 1931 and operates at the Campo de Marte Airport in the north zone of the São Paulo capital. The terminal, the second-oldest in operation in the country, is in a legal dispute with Pax Aeroportos, the concessionaire that took over the terminal in 2023, and could be forced to leave.

Public hearing on the 13th

Another factor in the eviction is a change to the Anak Regulations that guarantees exemption for flying clubs. In 2018, an ordinance was passed that overturned a 1977 ordinance that guaranteed flying clubs to operate free of charge at public airports. The agency said the changes “promote equality among the various personnel working within airport infrastructure.”

In response, the department plans to hold a public hearing on the topic at Aresp in November. Additionally, a bill being processed in the House calls for free access to union spaces to be restored starting in 2021. The document was approved by the Road Transport Committee in 2024 and has now been submitted to the Constitution and Justice Committee, awaiting the selection of a rapporteur.

After the exemption ended, litigation skyrocketed. In the case of Aeroclub de São Paulo, this occurred after the contract with Pax, which preceded the acquisition of the rights, ended in July.

— We have started negotiations with Pax. It was difficult to pay the rent of R43,000. They were interested in keeping us, and they said the rent would be 60,000 reais, but it went up to 90,000 reais, then 130,000 reais, then 160,000 reais…At a certain point, it was time to break off negotiations and say we were no longer interested, says Luis Antonio de Oliveira, president of the association.

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Lawsuits by both Aero Club and Pax, which seek to survive, are ongoing in court. The concessionaires requested foreclosure of the space, informing them in a memo that the Aeroclube contract had been terminated “after attempts at negotiation were unsuccessful” and that “the current occupancy of the space is considered irregular.”

Pax stressed that “other flight schools also remain fully operational” in Campo de Marte.

Marilia, 400 kilometers from the capital São Paulo, is in a similar situation. The city’s airport has been managed by Rede Voa since 2022. The contract that allowed the flying club to continue expiring in 2024. Negotiations did not go well, and a lawsuit seeking eviction was filed.

The dispute reached parliament, and the institution was declared a cultural heritage site by the city council in March. Vore did not comment when contacted.

— We’ve been having this debate for over a year now. We are able to survive legally – says Holland Gutt, safety director and instructor at the Marilia Flying Club.

Members of the school, together with the State Representative of Tenente Coimbra (PL), are leading the organization of a public hearing to be held in Aresp on the 13th, with the participation of more than 70 schools from all over the country. According to the organization’s research, there are 47 flying clubs operating in the state, training about 830 pilots a year and having 3,500 members.

lack of federal strategy

Airport concessions began in 2011 and accelerated with the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics, said Derrick de Mendonça Rocha, an infrastructure lawyer at Manesco Advogados.

Since 2019, the federal government has invested in a hybrid “bone-in steak” model, consolidating high-traffic airports and less profitable regional airports in the same contract. This was the case of Congonhas, whose interests collected small assets in the states of Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul, and Pará.

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— The absence of flying club fees was causing certain distortions. The flying club had an all-inclusive operation and also functioned as a hangar, fuel station and mechanic – Rocha said.

However, the dispute is also occurring in terminals managed by Infraero, such as Flores Airport in Manaus (AM), where the Amazonas and Brasilia flying clubs are located, and Brigadeiro Araripe Macedo in Lusiania (GO).

— The hangar was built by the Aero Club starting in 1940. They supported us, we rented,” says Fernando Lucio, who was previously the manager of Flores Airport, which was managed by Amazonas Aero Club.

On October 22nd, Infraero and the flying club reached an agreement, giving them 40 days to depart the terminal. “We are always open to dialogue with the entities that make up the airport chain,” Infraero said in a statement, noting that the flying club had occupied the space irregularly since 2023. The state-owned company also said it had found “security and infrastructure issues at the airport,” which the school denies.

In Lusiania, 60 kilometers from the federal capital, the Brasilia Flying Club is also the subject of an eviction lawsuit that is still ongoing.

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Flavio Pires, CEO of the Brazilian General Aviation Association (Abag), said many flying clubs survive “on subsidies” because they lack professional management. He says the training demand will be met in the civilian market, stressing that today’s problem is not the number of pilots, but the lack of more experienced professionals.

— Our problem is the middle ground between school, where you take your first steps, and the prerequisites for a seat on an executive jet or a commercial airliner. We are currently facing a pilot shortage. There are a lot of pilots in Brazil with 2-3 years of experience, but we need pilots with 7-8 years of experience.

Umberto Blanco, president of the Pilots and Aircraft Owners Association, criticized the lack of public policy on pilot training.