EP.02 - Building a Flight Empire: Mike Sykes’ Journey with US Aviation

In this episode of 4200, Anthony sits down with Mike Sykes, CEO of US Aviation Academy. Mike unpacks his path from working in his family’s accounting business to building one of the largest flight schools in the US. He shares how a chance opportunity turned a modest maintenance shop and flight school into a major aviation training hub for both international and domestic students. Mike breaks down the pivotal contract that fueled rapid growth, overcoming COVID’s impact, and how relentless sales and marketing rebuilt the business stronger than ever.

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[00:00:00] Meet Mike Sykes, CEO of US Aviation Academy

[00:00:48] Early family business roots in accounting and payroll

[00:01:27] Lessons learned growing up around entrepreneurs

[00:02:19] Gaining experience across sales, bookkeeping, and client service

[00:03:05] The surprising businesses he encountered, like a cloth diaper service

[00:03:57] From shy kid to business owner — Mike’s high school years

[00:04:20] Selling the family business to Intuit and shifting away from corporate life

[00:04:39] The unexpected path into aviation through a small maintenance shop

[00:05:02] Combining a flight school and maintenance to launch US Aviation

[00:06:02] Focusing on training over outside maintenance work

[00:06:30] The challenges of early growth without a clear destination

[00:07:05] The turning point: securing contracts to train Chinese students

[00:07:47] Scaling operations — aircraft, staff, housing, and logistics

[00:08:42] Key hires to expand: senior flight instructors and team building

[00:09:50] Unique contract requirements like aviation English training

[00:10:43] The surprising story behind winning the first airline contract

[00:12:00] How a business card translator unlocked the China partnership

[00:13:01] COVID’s impact wiping out 75% of the business overnight

[00:14:20] Pivoting to domestic students and rebuilding the marketing engine

[00:16:17] Tactics to get leads: sales funnels and digital ads

[00:17:55] Mike’s philosophy on what scaling really means in aviation

[00:19:20] Advice for new flight school owners who want to grow

[00:20:34] Where to find US Aviation Academy online

Links:

Anthony Geraci on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-geraci

Mike Sykes on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-sykes-4706a970

US Aviation: https://www.usaviationacademy.com/