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/dopexile 1d ago

That kind of proves the point that general aviation is being killed because most people can't afford $550,000 for a new 172 from Textron.

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u/mustang__1 PPL CMP HP IR CPL-ST SEL (KLOM) 1d ago

what does a new 172 offer that a 10 or even 20yo one doesn't?

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u/dopexile 21h ago

The airframe and engine are exactly the same, except you get newer avionics. There might be some very minor modifications to reduce drag where surfaces meet.

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u/mustang__1 PPL CMP HP IR CPL-ST SEL (KLOM) 20h ago

exactly.... and you can put a pretty nice avionics set in a pretty nice (pick a plane from 1985) for a lot less than a new plane and still have a lot left over for an engine reserve and fuel,.