From President Randy Leys

Hang in there…..

What a ride these last four months have been and the effect it is having on aviation. For those aviators in training, their dreams may have dimmed a little. I am impressed that we were able to implement precautions and to safely continue training keeping hopes and dreams alive.

I am very optimistic from a Corporate/Charter standpoint. In the past three weeks, I have flown over  ten flights. The Auburn flight schools are very active. Net Jets and Flex Jet are getting busier. I recently talked with a long time friend and mentor of mine based in Orlando, FL. He is seeing a lot of activity in corporate aircraft purchases and upgrades. There may be a shift for the near future to fly corporate and charter travel reducing larger group exposure. I would expect that may even trickle down to high performance single engine aircraft. So hey newbies, keep your chin up and continue your training. Even if you hold a single engine commercial pilot certificate and instrument rating, get that resume together and show it to a mentor for review and pointers to successfully represent your qualities. Get it out there in the hands of operators. Many turbo props and some jets are single pilot rated and you may be just what they are looking for. They may even finance future upgrades.

I was talking to Kelly recently and he reminisced that about four months ago, he had a class date for training with an airline then received some disappointing news. Just the other day, he received an email stating that he still was on the list. The airlines might be down, but not out. We have been hearing that Southwest Airlines are back to running a full schedule. Other airlines are not planning future layoffs and expecting better days ahead.

Those of us that have been in this business of aviation for a while, have seen and experienced its ups and downs. But patience and persistence have paid off over time.  And if you love what you do you will never work another day in your life.

I look forward to seeing everyone on our “Zoom” meeting Wednesday, July 1st. We have another great guest speaker presenting. Most of all I look forward to real face time in the near future. I am hoping that in August, AAA will get together for BBQ at an outside venue!

CAUTION: You may have just been infected by some OPTIMISM! Spread it around!

That’s my story Eh, and I’m sticking to it!

Randy