SEPTEMBER 2019 FLYINGMAG.COM | 41ratings quickly, primarily as a way of
minimizing their out-of-pocket costs.
Mayo says to address this need, Take
Flight created “ultra-efficient training
programs” written in-house that allow
its students to gain proficiency and
earn their licenses far more quickly
than the national average while also
developing piloting skills typically
not seen elsewhere. Better pilots more
quickly. It’s a novel idea in aviation, but
it shouldn’t be, Mayo says.
In studying Take Flight’s business
model to determine what makes this
school different from hundreds of oth-
ers around the country, it becomes
apparent fairly quickly that Mayo and
his team approach the operation as
entrepreneurs first and f light instruc-
tors second. That enables them to
focus on running a top-notch service
business concentrated on marketing,
operations and customer retention.
They don’t think of themselves as just
another f light school looking to maxi-
mize revenue from their students.
It’s also clear that Take Flight has
a clear vision to create something
different—and special—that will
allow the company to stand out
from the competition across the
field or around the world. That helps
explain the school’s capital-intensive
decision to buy a f leet of brand-new
modern Diamonds rather than thetired and worn piston trainers that
can normally be found on the ramps
of many f light schools.
Last, Take Flight seems to do a very
good job of focusing on what clients
really want, which isn’t more hours
put on the Hobbs meter but rather
results in the form of obtaining a new
pilot certificate or rating.
Mayo says Take Flight collects
data on every student who walks
through its doors. The school
currently has 211 students. The
average number of hours to earn
a private pilot’s license at the
school is 48 hours, versus about
70 as the nationwide average. Tokeep its student’s f light hours low,
Take Flight has created a struc-
tured program honed over the past
seven years that is 100 percent
results-oriented.
It turns out that if you focus on
results, and can deliver on your
promises, students will be willing to
pay more, Mayo says.“I had a guy come in the other
day who’d left another f light school
with 75 hours in his logbook, and he
hadn’t soloed yet,” Mayo recounts.
“I know from experience that his
75 hours at that other school is prob-
ably worth about 18 hours of quality
training experience. We immediately
put him in our syllabus to get him up
to speed, again focused on results.
There’s no advantage to me having a
student taking 70 hours to get their
license. I need to get them in and get
them out—and when they leave here
they will be a knowledgeable, safe
and competent pilot because that’s
what we train them to be.”The founders of Take Flight Aviation are entrepreneurs first, an approach
that enables them to operate a top-notch service business.