Flight School Spotlight: Aeromania

The Cheyenne, Wyoming, school is a niche within a niche. Aeromania focuses primarily on new jet type ratings and recurrent training in certain models of Cessna Citations, and its students are often experienced jet pilots or high-net-worth individuals who have purchased their own jet. Although it would seem students going for a jet type rating have nothing in common with a fresh-off-the-street private pilot student, much of what is required to properly serve a high-end client is good for other students as well.

Owner Anthony Cirincione started the school a few years ago after a career flying and instructing in the military. He spent a few years post-retirement at Flight Safety International, and then flying and managing various corporate aircraft. The business was a natural growth step after working with clients on a contract basis after retiring from the Air Force.

Aeromania focuses on in-aircraft training in Citation 500 series aircraft through the Encore+, and 525 series through the CJ4. Cirincione said the reason the list is so focused is because these aircraft are particularly well-suited to an in-aircraft training environment. “You learn different things in a sim than you do in the airplane,” he said. “I don’t think the airplane is necessarily better or worse than the sim, but there isn’t a simulator on the planet that can replicate a Citation 501.” Because the panels in early jets have been modified, and sim centers need to stay up to date on current models, in-airplane training is the only way to get deep into the particulars of some aircraft. Combine that with the ability to offer the client the convenience of training from their home airport and it’s an easy sell.

Differentiating yourself is a good start, but it takes more. The product must also be good. Cirincione is heavily focused on the quality of instruction his company offers. It starts with qualifications. Every instructor is also an A&P IA—a major benefit with systems training, when little issues crop up on training flights, and with helping students to develop a deeper understanding. He also makes sure his instructors have real-world experience flying the jet, something he thinks is lacking in the training industry.

“In our industry, one of our failures is that we let people teach who have never done it [flown the aircraft] for a living. It really degrades the quality of flight instruction,” he said.

Finally, there’s a focus on the basics of quality flight instruction. There’s an emphasis on preflight and post-flight briefings, and making sure the instructor gets to the heart of why a student may not be performing. Cirincione doesn’t like tricks for overcoming poor performance, such as setting the flight director and chasing it in a steep turn. Instead he’ll focus on pitch control and go back to the underlying cause.

The final step is taking the unique and good product, and matching it to the right client and focusing on his or her needs and wants. “They aren’t usually the same thing,” he said. “If they get what they need and not what they want, they’ll never call you back. If they get what they want and not what they need, they’ll end up in the newspaper. You have to serve both.”

Training in $40,000 or $400,000 Cessnas may not have obvious parallels with training in $4 million Cessnas, but the fundamentals are the same. Offer a unique product, focus on quality, and serve the client, and you have a successful roadmap regardless of the aircraft.