Courtesy of Hewison Aviation
By Susan Elise Campbell
For anyone north of the Capital District dreaming of learning to fly, the opportunity is now closer than ever. Husband-and-wife team Maura and Christopher Hewison have announced a third location for Hewison Aviation: the Saratoga County Airport, now under expansion and on track for a spring 2025 completion date.
“We were looking to get into Saratoga for the last two years,” said Maura, who is operations manager for the flight academy Christopher founded in 2014 upon receiving his CFII. “Two of our instructors live in Saratoga and have been training clients at the South Albany Airport in Selkirk.”
Operating out of Saratoga not only makes the commute easier for these instructors, but also opens up a clearer path for prospective pilots residing or working within a large radius around the county.
Hewison Aviation also has a presence at Griffiss International Airport in Rome, NY.
“There is no civilian flight training in Saratoga now, but there is a helicopter flight school,” said Hewison. “They send us flight students and we send them helicopter students.”
Their student base ranges in age from 12 to 83 years old right now, Hewison said. Most are high school seniors, some have purchased a plane and “just want to have fun,” and a few in their 20s are looking for a career change into the field of aviation.
Because of the convenient new location, some students will be transferring from other flight schools, she said.
“A lot of people are happy they will not have to travel to Albany,” said Hewison.
She said it’s not common knowledge, but just about any ordinary person can become a pilot.
“People think pilots come from this special place that no one knows about,” she said. “They’re pretty surprised when they learn they can train, too.”
A physical space is required at an airport to do the classroom training, as well as an FAA-approved hangar for the planes. Hewison said their classes are regulated by the FAA under Part 61 and Part 141. The Part 61 school is more relaxed and personalized, whereas Part 141 is more structured and standardized, but the tests and the certifications are the same.
“We got permanent Part 141 approval from the FAA in December,” she said. “It took four and a half years to get the status and then another two years of perfect records to prove our compliance and that we passed the required number of students.”
Saratoga County Airport was already under construction when the Hewisons applied to bring their flight school to the community. She said she toured the facility and the classroom area two months ago and “really liked” what she saw.
“It looks great and the people are super friendly,” she said. “We are on the list for private hangar space because it’s better not to share hangar space.”
Hewison said that even if they were not to secure permanent hangar space there, they will still train out of Saratoga County Airport as they have been since December.
“We can just fly in and then fly out,” she said.
There are 11 experienced flight instructors serving the Albany-Saratoga area for Hewison now and business is poised for growth.
“It is going to be a great opportunity to be established in Saratoga,” she said. “Personally, if I lived in Saratoga, I would not want to drive an hour through Albany, do my two-hour flight training, and then drive back home.”
Hewison Aviation will also be offering drone training from Saratoga County Airport, a service that is absent in the area now.
“We do have a huge presence in Rome, and I think a lot more people here are getting into drones,” she said. “We haven’t advertised it, but I believe this area will be a good audience for certification so our students can operate drones safely.”
There is a pilot shortage upstate at this time, Hewison said. But she is getting calls from seniors in high school who would like to obtain their private pilot’s licenses before going off to college this fall. Some have the potential goal of a career with the airlines.
“You don’t have to go through the military to be a commercial airline pilot and you can start at any age,” she said. “But you have to be 17 to get your pilot’s license.”
“Some of these young people are flying planes even before they can drive a car,” she said.
Maura and Christopher Hewison said they are eager to see how aspiring pilots, both commercial and recreational, will respond to the Saratoga school. They have no plans to open other schools in other upstate communities at this time.
“We always want our business to have that Mom and Pop feel,” she said. “I answer all the phone calls, meet with each student, do the orientation, and then hand them off. I don’t ever want to lose that quality.”
Hewison Aviation celebrated its 10th anniversary last summer. Learn more about the company’s history, instructors, fleet, and more at hewisonaviation.com.