Gregory Patchel, Gateway Technical College’s chief pilot and director of the Aeronautics-Pilot Training program, has been nationally recognized the fourth straight year for his high standard of flight instruction by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, the world’s largest aviation association.

Patchel has been awarded a spot on the Flight Training Experience Awards as a Distinguished Flight Instructor, a title given to high scoring flight instructors from AOPA’s 2019 Flight Training Experience Survey.

AOPA’s Flight Training Experience Awards were created to highlight the best flight training the industry has to offer.

“Creating a genuine bond with a customer is crucial to creating a positive flight training experience,” said Chris Moser, AOPA’s senior director of flight training education. “Based on the direct feedback we received in the survey, there is no doubt that this year’s winners have connected in a powerful way to their customers. These flight training providers are doing it right.”

The 2019 awards were drawn from flight students and pilots who voluntarily reviewed their flight training experience this past summer through an AOPA online customer satisfaction survey. The process yielded an evaluation of 972 different flight schools and 1,876 individual flight instructors.

To learn more about Gateway’s aeronautics-pilot training program, please go to gtc.edu/pilot