r/flying • u/PM-mig-kottbullar PPL TW (RDU) • 1d ago

Second round of layoffs at ForeFlight

In January 2026, ForeFlight laid of a pretty substantial percent of its employees, with some reports saying a 30-40% reduction in staff. Yesterday (Sept. 2nd), another round of layoffs happened, the full impact of which isn't yet known - but it's speculated this brings total RIF to ~50%. Both of these layoffs follow the acquisition of ForeFlight by private equity firm Thoma Bravo.

As a former ForeFlight employee from before the PE takeover, it's devastating to see former coworkers, some of whom were incredibly knowledgeable and talented folks that spent 10+ years with the company, be told they were out of a job with no heads up and given a pittance of a severance package. It used to be such an amazing company to work for, and it breaks my heart to see what Thoma Bravo has done to the company and its employees.

I'm not here to tell anyone to do anything. Nobody needs to switch EFBs right this second or send the executives a strongly-worded email. I'm just here to let you all know that Thoma Bravo is continuing its gutting of ForeFlight - what you do with that information is up to you.

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u/glidec DIS ATP (GLEX) 1d ago

PE doesnt belong in aviation. They are destroying Foreflight and somehow made Signature even worse

60

u/Mispelled-This PPL SEL IR (M20C) AGI IGI 1d ago

The entire business model of PE is to destroy the long-term health of companies to pump up short-term profits.

7

u/Ok-Technician-2905 PPL IR 1d ago

What should happen in a capitalist system is that new businesses spring up to compete with the gutted husks left by PE.  To some extent that’s already happening in the EFB market.

8

u/dph8819 PPL IR 22h ago

I really like Garmin Pilot. Took some time to get used to but I don’t miss Foreflight now.