Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
This week on the Art of Improvement, I'll be speaking with US Aviation Academy
CEO Mike Sikes. So have youever thought what am I going to do
for the rest of my life?Well, at the US Aviation Academy,
they have a twelve month accelerated trainingprogram specifically designed for perspective mechanics airline mechanics
(00:21):
looking to get their certification. Theyalso can teach you how to fly.
I can't wait to introduce you tomy guest, Mike Sikes. Our conversation
is coming up next on the Artof Improvement. Thank you so much for
listening to the Art of Improvement.I'm really excited to introduce you to my
(00:42):
guest today, Mike Sikes. Heis the CEO for US Aviation Academy.
Hi Mike, how are you.Good morning, Karen. I'm doing great,
and yourself, I'm very good.When I saw a billboard recently for
US Aviation Academy, I was like, hmm, I've never heard of that,
what is that? And of courseI live in Texas in the San
(01:04):
Antonio area. But as I dida little bit more digging and I was
like, Wow, you guys arein a lot of places. Can you
talk about US Aviation Academy. Well, sure, so US Aviation Academy were,
gosh, eighteen years young. Heirbased in Denton, Texas at our
home office. We at a highlevel provide flight training and maintenance technician training
(01:32):
and just recently launched a dispatch coursetraining program. So kind of all things
aviation related help young people find theirpath in aviation. Oh, that is
incredible. And when I saw that, of course it's a school, and
I thought to myself, well,this is a in my mind, of
(01:53):
course, you got to correct meif I'm wrong. In my mind,
I was like, wow, thatought to be a really nice job.
How many years does it take toget a license or training to get you
know, get knowledge in order toget a job like this? And are
there any jobs? So that's liketen questions. The first one is how
(02:13):
long does it take to get trainedin a program like this? Yeah,
so depending on the program. Butthe mainenance technician program is a twelve month
cycle, so from beginning to end, it's a very fast paced program.
At the end of twelve months,you've received all your education and you know
(02:34):
your graduation certificate which it then qualifiesyou to take the FA exam that are
required. To pass those exams,then you're a certified airframe and power plant
mechanic, which then enables you towork for a number of companies, which
we can talk about. On theflight side, the training part of the
process is about twelve months, dependson the individuals, so it can be
(02:59):
a little bit less, can bemore, depending on how much time you
have available to devote to the flighttraining side of it. After the training,
you still have some work to do. You've got to get to a
certain number of hours of experience andgetting depend on your background, but on
average, about fifteen hundred hours oftotal flight time, and you'll have graduated
(03:21):
the training side with about three hundredto three hundred and fifty hours, so
you've got roughly a twelve hundred hourgap you've got to fill. Most of
our graduates fill that time by beingan instructor for US or another aviation company,
and so they'll spend a year orso in training and then another year
(03:42):
to eighteen months in building that time, and then that point they're ready to
go and launch their career in aviation. From a perspective of being in an
airline or one thirty five operator whichprovides the private charter services that type of
thing. That's incredible. I mean, this is I don't mean to sound
(04:06):
naive, but this is a lifetimejob, a career, isn't it.
I mean, this is something thatcan be lucrative and for a long time.
Absolutely so. And you made thedistinction there, you kind of correct
it yourself. We say, it'snot a job, it is a career.
Yeah, it's not a stepping stonewhere hey, I get this job
(04:28):
and kind of get some experience andthen I'll do something different. You know,
if you get in it and youlike it, it is a lifelong
career and you can work for manygreat companies that hire both you know,
pilots and mechanics. And like Isaid, and many many people will spend
the rest of their career with onecompany, or you know, they might
move to one or two different companies. But yes, it is a long
(04:53):
horizon there or long opportunity for aperson to get in the field. And
the exciting thing is, boy,the hiring is fantastic right now. So
there are job openings everywhere across thecountry. Wow. So regardless of where
you want to work for both pilotsand technicians that the need is significant,
(05:14):
and so it's a great time toenter the industry. So I had many
questions when I thought, because sometimeswhen there are certain careers, you think,
Okay, you have to be reallygood at math and science, or
you have to be good at this. Is there an aptitude for someone a
(05:36):
candidate that you're looking for that wouldmake them successful, or is it like
a well rounded student, or whatages even are you looking for? Yeah,
so a lot of question wrapped upics. So you're starting with the technician
side. We suggest that the candidatebe least eighteen years of age and have
(06:00):
a high school diploma. Technically that'snot required, but because of the nature
of the curriculum the training that you'regoing to go through, having that that
high school diploma will be very beneficialto ensuring your success in our program.
There is some math and some somesome technical type information that you have to
go through, and so having thatgeneral education behind you is very helpful in
(06:24):
terms of the skill set. Again, on the technician side, you know
it's going to lean towards someone wholikes working with their hands, likes being
you know, kind of involved inworking on mechanical devices, and so again
if you're if you want to sitbehind a desk and work on a computer,
probably not the career you want tolook at, but if you enjoy
(06:48):
again being hands on, being involveda lot of times working you know,
either in a hangar, sometimes outsideyou got to be working out on the
ramp or do things, so you'rein different environments. But it's a very
physical job. And so looking forwardto someone who has that kind of I
wouldn't say aptitude, but an interestright right, I totally get that.
(07:09):
It makes me think and not forme because I would love working outside.
I don't care what the elements are. It seems like I get a lot
of renewed energy and positivity from beinglike in and out and moving around and
not sitting at a desk, butfrom just stereotypical thinking. Is this something
(07:33):
that is like dominated by men?Are women invited to pursue a career just
like this at US Aviation Academy?Yeah, great question, So it's yesterable.
So yes, today it is heavilydominated by male population on both the
(07:53):
flight and the amp technician side,but that is rapidly changing, and so
a number of our students are emailand the industry is really pushing to get
more diversity in their working population.So it is certainly a career that is
open to all walks of life.So you know, again, male,
(08:18):
female, race, it does notmatter. It really comes down to an
interest and a willingness to work hardand pursue this career. But there's not
any barriers beyond that. Before Igo any further, could you give me
information on where people can find outmore about US Aviation Academy. Sure.
(08:39):
So the easiest way is our website, which is US Aviation Academy dot com.
And so from there you can findout our locations and our programs and
the cost. All that information islisted there. Okay, And one more
time if you could sure, that'sUS Aviation Academy. Okay. And we
(09:03):
were speaking earlier and you said you'rein the Denton area, but there are
places all over Texas or how farbecause everybody I'll be listening to this show,
how far can you tell us youhave schools or places where you can
actually get licensed? Sure? So, certainly have a lot of Texas covered,
(09:24):
both north and south though from Dentondown to Houston area and then San
Marcos kind of in between and Kerrvillebut we also have a location in Cape
Girardo, Missouri, and then oneof Pertepsie, New York, so all
the way over to the east coastside there, so oh okay. We
(09:46):
also at some of these other locationsare reflective of this. We partner with
a number of colleges to offer aprogram that on the flight side, that
is a degree program, so you'llexit the program with either an associates or
bachelor's degree in aviation and as wellas all of your pilot's licenses and certificates.
(10:09):
So amazing other avenue that's available toperson, and so we offer both.
Just you can come to us directand take you straight through, or
you can go through on these collegiateprograms. If you just now started listening.
Mike Psychs is the CEO of USAviation Academy, and we were talking
about whether it's piloting or being aIs it called an ANP mechanic? That's
(10:37):
correct, So that stands for airframeand power plant. That's what the A
and the PR. So okay,so you'll hear the words a MP technician,
maintenance technicians. Lots of different terminologyuse, but all's describing the same
thing. Okay, good, Thankyou. I was just going to ask
you that. So, when itcomes to exams and the studying and the
(10:58):
entire schooling, is it something thatcan be done online partially? Is it
something that is in person where youwould have if you had a job that
you really didn't like, would youhave to quit that job while you were
going to school. Yeah, soit depends on the program. So for
the AMP Technician program, that isfull time during the day. So it's
(11:22):
very difficult to keep certainly a fulltime job while doing that program because it's
a full eight hours a day andplus some studying. We do have some
students who will work in part timein an evening job, but it's like
very difficult to maintain a full timejob while doing that program. Okay,
the flight side, it's a littlemore flexible. So we do have ground
(11:45):
school that has to be completed,but that you can do remotely, and
so it is at times, butyou can link in remotely and participate in
the class that way. All theflight obviously it's going to be in person,
going to be at the airport,but it's flexible as to the days
of week and time that work aroundyour schedule. That said, our encouragement
(12:09):
is to devote as much time toit as possible. And the reason being
is if you fly on an infrequentbasis, so maybe you know, once
a week or even worse, onceevery other week, you'll find that it's
going to take not only much longerinto calendar time, but much more flight
(12:30):
time because you're just not getting enoughreinforcement of that learning process, and the
large gaps will just create a lossof that learning and so you'll spend a
lot more money and a lot moretime, and so it certainly is not
the preferred method. So we reallyencourage a person to be available at least
(12:54):
three or four days a week todevote to train. It's not on it
all day. You'll be out theairport a few hours and then a few
hours for ground school, but it'sa good part of the day and so
again not required, but highly recommendedto make the most efficient use of your
time and money. Oh and thatgoes with anything really, I mean,
yes, I understand what you're talkingabout. You can have a part time
(13:16):
job, just like I had apart time job in college. It can't
be sucking up all of your timebecause you really have to concentrate because I
guess if you want this as yourfuture, I mean, that's where you
have to put all of your allof your study power and concentration, right
absolutely, And you know, sortof on the flight train side, it's
(13:39):
very expensive and you don't want toagain spend more money than you have to,
and so trying to minimize that cost, you know, and right along
with that is you'll be committed tothe program. Getting halfway through is worth
absolutely nothing. And so on eitherside, so you you you want to
be careful to think about is thissomething I really want to do? And
(14:00):
you know, ask questions, comein and meet with this, talk to
other people in the industry, andall things we can help you with.
But we want to make sure thatbefore you put your hard earned money down
on a program or invest in it, that it's the right thing for you.
And so on the flight side,even say, you know, take
a discovery flight, get up inthe air, and just if you even
like that first step, because ifyou get up there and go, oh
my gosh, it may be scaredto death or I was emotion sic or
(14:24):
just something about it. This boy, this wasn't for me. Well,
let's figure that out. On thefront end. You know, it's absolutely
different aspect of it's a great career, it's a great opportunity, but it's
not for everyone, and so wewant to make sure there's a good fit
between this program and your interest.Absolutely, I guess I don't even need
(14:45):
to ask you if you're a pilot? Are you? I am? Now
that said, I never worked asa pilot. I did it for fun.
My dad and I learned to flytogether way back in the eighties,
so it kind of date myself alittle bit, but did it for fun.
And you know, I never thoughtI'd be in a career that was
(15:05):
focused on aviation. That happened muchlater in life for me. But yeah,
I am awesome and so been mostof my life on the customer side
of the equation as opposed to onthe on the service provider side. That's
incredible, though, That is likewhat a perk. That is incredible.
And I was going to ask youa friend of mine from a long time
ago, she married a pilot,and how he became a pilot is he
(15:31):
was in the military before he startedworking for a major airline. Do you
find that it's really important to ourmilitary members to introduce this as an option
for their civilian life. You know, for many, many years that was
the primary source of our airline pilotswas through the military, and so that's
(15:52):
what you described was very very common. That was the direction that the pilots
exiting the military went to. Whathas changed is, uh, one of
the military is not training as manypilots, and the pilots as they do
train, they work very hard totry to retain them. They invest so
much money in training their pilots anddo such a fantastic job, which is
(16:15):
why everybody wanted them. They've they'velearned it. You know, it's it's
less expensive to try to retain thisperson than train a do it. And
so they really had spent a lotof effort to retain their pilots. And
so there's far less exiting the militarymilitary at piloting the military. And so
that's what's created the need for civilianpilots to enter the airline industries because that
(16:38):
that gap is not being filled bythe military any longer. And I won't
say that there aren't any, butit's far less than it used to be.
Sure, So I don't even knowif I want to bring this up,
because I don't want to, youknow, discourage anyone, but I
in my mind, I imagine thataviation mechanic school has got to be a
(16:59):
pretty expense thing. I mean,it's a long time. Is there are
there choices? Are there? Yousaid that some people go through school.
How do people pay for it?And how much is it? Can you
even talk at ballpark? Sure,sure I can, and so yes,
it is fairly expensive. But youknow, again going to for year college
(17:21):
is very expensive as well. Wehave to kind of kind of keep this
in perspective as to what it ispreparing for you. And so just at
a high level, the flight programis around one hundred thousand, you know,
and variables in there. But youknow, give or take that,
we do have financing available, Sovarious financing options that are available if you
(17:45):
go to one of our collegiate programsthat produce gives you some other options so
that they'll have their financing options thatyou can work with as well. We
also at many of our locations exceptthe benefits, so we talk about the
person military. Maybe they're not apilot, but they have an interest in
(18:07):
that direction, so we can workwith the VA benefits. So that helps
as well. The AMP side,the technician is about thirty five thousand for
that program, so certainly less thanthe flight program, and so it makes
it a little bit more accessible.Again, financing options are available, and
(18:29):
most of our students take advantage ofthat. So all paths that are there,
you know, and we didn't talkabout this, as we said,
you know, jobs are plentiful,but again, kind of some numbers to
think about. All right. Onthe AMP side, a person who graduates
the program passes their FA exams,starting pay ranges from twenty eight to thirty
(18:52):
five dollars an hour. Okay,that's awesome, and that's just starting pay,
and it goes up from there,and it's it's certainly at the airlines,
it is not unreasonable that within reallyyou know, less than ten years,
you could be over one hundred thousanddollars in earnings. Oh my gosh,
that's great. Plus fantastic benefits.Plus again, if you're working for
(19:15):
the airline, you get flight privileges, so I mean you can fly to
the world for free, you know, So just a lot of neat perks
for someone that again no college degreerequired, come run out of high school,
take this twelve month program and you'velaunched a great career. That's all
really great news. And it's soweird because I don't know if people are
(19:36):
just not talking about it, butsome of the hottest areas before, we're
now hearing about layoffs, and yousaid just the opposite. It's there's a
great need for these employees that comeout of your academy. There are and
you know, aviation that has hadits ups and downs over the decades,
(19:57):
but right now it's in a growtharea. Part of the need, or
this demand side is kind of fixedand caused by a retirement wave that is
happening in the industry. And soyou know, on the on the flight
side, you have this mandatory retirementage of sixty five and so it is
(20:19):
laid out how many people are goingto be retiring as pilots from all the
major airlines and we're you know,a significant wave right now of retirements that
are happening. So it the needsare there just because all of these folks
are exiting. So regardless if there'sany growth or not, there's just a
need because of the number of peoplethat are retiring, it's an unprecedented number.
(20:41):
So we're really in a tight spot. There, but there's also on
top of that tremendous growth forecast there. So Boeing does a report every year
of anticipated you know, their focusis on how many aircraft they are going
to sell, but kind of aspin off of that is, well,
if we're going to produce all ofthese aircraft, somebody's got to work on
(21:02):
them and somebody's got to fly them. And so they do this reporter as
well, how many pilots do wethink we're going to be needed over the
next twenty years and how many technicians. In both cases they're saying, and
this is on a global scale,about six hundred and thirty thousand pilots and
six hundred and thirty thousand or sotechnicians are going to be needed over the
next twenty years, a huge,huge number. Yeah, And so that's
(21:26):
the exciting thing about this career.It's just great potential, great opportunities,
and you know, and we're aprecipice of of change. We just don't
even know what it will look like. But if you're kind of studying the
industry, there's a lot of talkabout these air taxis and these electric vertical
(21:49):
takeoff equipped aircraft and they're going toprovide these shorthoul kind of like the Uber
of the Skies, and you know, we'll see if that happens or not,
but boy, if it does,the number of pilots and the number
of technicians that are required are justgoing to increase that much more. And
so we've got a lot of excitingthings happening, and again we think it's
(22:12):
a great time to be entering thisfield. Absolutely, And as we wrap
up here, please, Mike,could you give us information on where people
can find out more sure so,once again, it's US Aviation Academy dot
com and go there, and wehave a forms you can click click on
to request more information. Got ourphone numbers listed, always welcome to call
(22:34):
as well. Thank you so muchfor giving us all this great information today,
Mike, Well, thank you Karenfor hosting it. It was a
pleasure of speaking with you, andagain, thank you for the opportunity