The Next Generation of Flight with Oliver Christian

A 14-hour flight with nothing but coloring books sparked a lifelong fascination. In a special episode closing out our Aviation Series, Dan sits down with his son Oliver Christian, the kid who once built LAX in the garage and could identify aircraft by silhouette, to trace the path from childhood plane-spotting to future pilot, and to explore where aviation is headed next.

We break down the pilot pipeline in plain language, from student permit and first solo to PPL, CPL, instrument and night ratings, multi-engine time, and the road to an ATPL. Oliver shares why he chose Windsor to fly in year one, the importance of logging landings early, and a crucial piece of advice for aspiring pilots: clear your medical before you commit. He also walks through how pilots build hours, from flight instructing and seasonal operations to regional flying, and why passion matters when the workload gets heavy.

On the industry side, we look at aviation’s ongoing shift from jumbo jets to more efficient aircraft. Think A320neos and 737 MAX opening new point-to-point routes, and long-haul workhorses like the A350, 787, and upcoming 777X reshaping global networks. We compare single-type fleets at airlines like Ryanair and Southwest with the mixed fleets of Delta, American, and United—and what that means for training, simulators, and type ratings. We also spotlight global aviation hubs to watch, including Doha, Abu Dhabi, Istanbul, and Singapore, where scale, design, and technology intersect.

And yes, we talk AI, not pilotless planes, but smarter air traffic management, digital towers like Melbourne’s, and decision-support tools that improve safety and efficiency without removing humans from the cockpit. If you’ve ever wondered how a love of airplanes turns into a career or which aircraft will define your future flights, this conversation delivers clarity, insight, and genuine enthusiasm.

👉 Listen to The Next Generation of Flight Now

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Transcript

Start With Passion, Not Pressure

SPEAKER_02 0:04

Try to get passionate about this and try to indulge yourself in it before you're actually working hard because it'll make the work so much easier. You can only, and obviously a lot of people say this, it's way easier to work out of passion instead of like having to do something. And I think all pilots should be working out of passion because it is a challenging thing, and if you're not passionate about something, it's definitely hard to understand certain concepts and if you're not willing to put in the effort.

Sponsor Shoutouts And Luggage Giveaway

Meet Oliver: Future Pilot At Windsor

SPEAKER_00 0:41

Hello everyone and welcome back to Travel Trends. This is your host, Dan Christian, and man, do we have a special episode for you today? A little surprise for all of our listeners that I couldn't be more excited to share with you. We are, of course, finishing up our aviation series. This is part three in our very first ever focus on aviation, which has been kindly sponsored by our friends over at Hayes Luggage. Hayes has also been running a contest with us during our season six final series. So make sure that you do post a highlight from season six and express your excitement and enthusiasm for season seven. And you'll have a chance to win one of three$1,500 Astro luggage bags. And you can see on our social channels all the winners as we'll be announcing them shortly. So make sure that you get your post in in the next couple of days. Thanks again to the Hayes team. And if you want more information about Hayes and their incredibly innovative luggage and this amazing global family-based Canadian brand, check out Haze.com, H-E-Y-S.com. And one of the things that happened during this final series is that we did a special spotlight episode with Mran Shaikh, who is the son of the founders who grew up in Mississauga, very similar to myself. And he highlighted in that episode how excited he was to have his daughters working in the business. And I have been actively encouraging both of our 18-year-old twins who are now in their first year university to get involved, our daughter with some of the events that we're planning. She also wants to run our TikTok channel. And our son, who I've talked about a number of times, who is studying to become a pilot. And one of the things that stood out to me, and my team all said this to me when the idea came up was like, you've got to have him on the podcast. He has been an active listener to the podcast. And for those of you that have been with us since the very beginning, you know the origin story of this podcast was connected to the passing of my father when we moved back from LA and took care of him. And so I thought, what better way to wrap up season six and prepare for a really bright season seven and eight in 2026 by bringing on my son, the future pilot Oliver Christian to join us on the Travel Trends podcast. Oliver, welcome to Travel Trends. It's so great to have you here. Thank you. I'm super excited to be here. Tell everyone where you are, where you're studying right now.

SPEAKER_02 3:05

So I'm right now sitting in my dorm at Windsor in Rosick Hall, and I'm studying the commercial aviation leadership program. Fantastic.

SPEAKER_00 3:14

And I'm so thrilled that you're there. And I know one of the reasons you chose this program, uh, unlike some of the others that we traveled to go and see, was because you could actually start flying in your very first year, unlike some of the other programs, that you didn't start flying until your second year. And I'm keen not only to talk about your background in aviation, the interest in becoming a pilot, uh, but also how you become a pilot, because you've taught me so much already about this industry, and you've you've had a much greater expertise in aviation than I've ever had and likely ever will. And so I want to pick your brain as well on where this industry's headed. But let's talk a little bit about your background, aside from being my son and having the opportunity to travel quite a bit. Tell all of our listeners what sparked your interest in becoming a pilot.

SPEAKER_02 4:01

So, yeah, when really it first started, uh I was six years old, and we were taking a flight from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia on a United Boeing 747. And I remember sitting in the front of that plane for 14 hours, and I had nothing. I didn't have an iPad, there was no screens, and all I had was coloring books. And I just sat there for 14 hours with you guys, and when I got off, we got this little um this little A380 of a Qantas plane, and I was like, man, I love flying, and I want this to be something I want to do for the rest of my life.

SPEAKER_00 4:41

That's awesome. You know, it's it's really cool for me to hear this just to all of our listeners because I really don't know any of the answers he's gonna say to these questions, and I actually didn't realize that was the start of it. The one thing I do remember, Ollie, is that when we were taking some of those flights, your sister, Jocelyn, who is listening to this now, of course, she was always about a foot taller than you, right up until I guess the last year of high school, and she always looked like your older sister. And there was sometimes where she would get you would get the the kids' coloring pack, and she would get something for the adults, and you'd like to look at us and go like what the heck is going on here?

SPEAKER_02 5:16

Yeah, and that was uh I was pretty sad about that when I was didn't look older, but that's just a reality for me.

SPEAKER_00 5:25

Now, and some of our friends and colleagues that are listening to this as well would have seen my social posts over the years. Uh one of highlighting you playing baseball because your two great passions growing up was baseball and uh and planes. And sometimes the two of them collided on the baseball field when you'd just stare up into the sky and be watching the planes, and all their kids would quiz you on what plane it was because that was seen to be the fun game, was Oliver could tell uh anyone anytime what plane it was and likely what route it was flying. Um how did you actually learn that? Because you used to you eventually started getting quizzed on flight radar 24, and even I was amazed when I would quiz you as we were driving. How did you actually learn all the different types of airplane body styles and be able to look up into the sky and know what you were looking at?

SPEAKER_02 6:09

So it really first started when I was probably about uh 10 years old. I downloaded this game, which I'm sure a lot of people know, um, like in the aviation industry. It's called Infinite Flight, and it's just a mobile game, and uh basically there is this section where it shows aircraft, and you can basically scroll through all the different types of aircraft, and you basically pick which ones to fly. And throughout doing that multiple times, like it's got the name and what it looks like right next to each other. And I just learned, I just was like, okay, I want to fly the 737, so I picked that one and I know what it looks like, and then I want to fly the A380. I look at that one. And just through repetition of playing that game and seeing the other planes in the game, I just learned it, just came to me. So when I see them in the air on the baseball field, I'm like, of course, that's what I've seen on this game the whole time.

SPEAKER_00 7:03

And it just progressed further. This is one of those examples as a parent where I guess letting your kids play video games can be beneficial at times. Is that fair to say?

Model Airports And The OC Wings Era

SPEAKER_02 7:11

Yeah, I mean I was pretty nerdy about that one, but I was just playing that game constantly.

SPEAKER_00 7:18

Well, speak speaking about being nerdy, this is one of the things I wanted to share with our listeners too, because obviously it's um it's a real thrill and delight for me to have you on this, and I'm sure many of our listeners are feeling the same way because they're getting a chance to meet you and get to know you. So many people, when I'm traveling, they know you from the baseball stories that I've told on main stages at Keynotes, and they've heard a little bit about the aviation as well because we've been actively plane spotting now for many years. But right before you were plane spotting, you were building model airports. Tell everyone a little bit about that, and then I want to also ask you about your YouTube channel because this is where for all of our listeners and and also my friends and family listening to this, Oliver was very apprehensive when he finally went to high school. We bought him a t-shirt when we're living in LA, where it's just like at Christmas time when it said warning, I may talk about planes. The rest of the family loved it because you talked about planes all the time. But as soon as you hit grade nine, all of a sudden you started to become that much more self-conscious about the fact you had this YouTube channel called OC Wings, you'd be building and collecting model planes, and you started to grow up and become a teenager, which is it's life. And but you've you've you've but tell everyone a bit about the making the model plane sets and then starting this YouTube channel you had for many years.

SPEAKER_02 8:34

Yeah, so it really started again uh off watching YouTube. Um there was one specific YouTuber called Aviation 18. He was facing the UK and he used to do these uh what were called model airport updates, and it was just he set up a bunch of little one to four hundred scale planes and uh made his own airport through painting it. Um and I just caught an interest in it, and uh I wanted to buy my own planes and I wanted to build my own model airport, and then I realized, wait, I can document this entire thing. So it all really ties together. I kind of wanted to do what this little small group on YouTube was doing and uh make it for uh something of my own.

SPEAKER_00 9:18

And for uh the better part of eight or nine years, every Christmas, every birthday, any gift was a model airplane. You have the most extensive collection of anyone I've ever known. We've visited dozens of stores around the world, and I've spent no shortage amount of time visiting websites to try and make sure that you had that model plane for that special occasion. Tell everyone how many planes you have and the the specific models you collect.

Plane Spotting At LAX And Community

SPEAKER_02 9:44

Yeah, so when I first started to like building my own model airport, I uh wanted to get a specific type of aircraft that matched with the types of planes that fly into Toronto Pearson. So I have about 80 models now, and um they're mostly from a company named Gemini Jets based out of Las Vegas, and um yeah, so I have about 80 of 80 models, and some of most of them are in one to four hundred scale, so they're 400 times smaller than the real thing, and some of them are in one to two hundred scale, like this Airbus A380 I have here. And um yeah, so I just got really interested in that, built airports, and uh yeah, it's been a thing ever since.

SPEAKER_00 10:29

And the model that Oliver was just highlighting is a model that his girlfriend kindly bought for him at Christmas time. So it just shows you that his love for aviation and for model airplanes, you found someone now that you could actually will indulge you in your passion. And so when it comes to these models, you've also built these incredible intricate airports. And we started with one in Toronto, and I still remember when you were building that over the weekend, we've been to Home Depot a number of times to get you not only the wood, but also the paints. I posted a picture once and she said, We've been working on our model airplane uh airport this weekend. I was like, I I some comment that you know I'm now flying to LA and Oliver built the uh the Toronto airport, and you were like, Yeah, but I did. I did that. I was like, no, for sure. I'm like, I helped out by getting the getting the supplies, but ultimately you have this like intense passion and you wanted to be able to curate the experience yourself. So you built these airports. The next one we did, of course, was in LA in the garage. We set you up in the garage and you were out there for you know hours and days. Tell everyone about the airports you've built because they're still in our basement now.

From YouTube Premieres To Photography

SPEAKER_02 11:36

Yeah, so as I was saying, with like the models I collected for the airport, um, it was Toronto Pearson, a replica of um Toronto Pearson's Terminal One, where Air Canada flies out of. And I all I've been on flight radar all that time trying to figure out uh how it's like and on Google Maps and countless hours printing out like different terminal things. So yeah, it was Toronto Pearson was the main one. I built Terminal One and Terminal Three, and then I built a small one of Montreal and Montreal Trudeau Airport, and then I also built uh LAX, the Tom Bradley International Terminal. And so it was basically just like what I have a connection to. So when we were living in LA, I wanted to build the Los Angeles one, and then obviously where I was born and grew up in Toronto.

SPEAKER_00 12:28

So one of the things I wanted to highlight too is that Oliver was keen to make sure he had the right models that matched, and he would get frustrated with me if I would put a model on the airport that wouldn't typically fly that route. He's like, that doesn't work. That's not that airline does not fly via Toronto or fly out of LA. You had you had to have the right and any of those moments when you had cre set up the the situation um at the airport, you could explain what was happening, like who was loading, who was pushing back, who's taking off, and where they're headed, because you had this whole vision for what was happening in that world.

SPEAKER_02 13:03

Yeah, because I had I had seen everything on flight radar and wanted to recreate it in a small miniature environment. And um it was it was more so me trying to create a miniature world instead of kind of just have fun and put it. It's it's uh creation. There's a place in um I believe Hamburg in Germany called um forget the exact name of it, but they built humongous miniature worlds, miniature airports, and uh it was really cool watching those videos definitely inspired me to do my own thing.

SPEAKER_00 13:38

Yeah, well, you know, going from the model airplane set up in the garage to LAX was always a lot of fun together because that was during the pandemic, and obviously that was a very challenging time for everyone in the travel industry for us as a family. You know, we're Canadians living in LA. We couldn't travel home to Canada because we didn't have U.S. citizenship. So we were really kind of locked down in LA. And I'm sure everyone remembers how challenging that first, you know, six to twelve months were when we were ordering groceries and everyone was wiping them down. You know how serious mom was about that, right, Oliver?

SPEAKER_02 14:09

Being out of the city, that's a farm how the garage was used for a bit instead of the airport.

JetPhotos And Seeing Your Shots On Flight Radar

SPEAKER_00 14:13

Exactly. And so we would go social distancing to the airport, just you and me in the car, and we would wear masks, and there's some there's some great photos of you wearing your mask and us making sure that we were social distancing at the airport. But it actually was a place that we could go, and it was a really unique time in I would say world history now, if we think about it, because all of those beautiful Qantas A380s were parked. Um many of these planes, as I came to understand and appreciate the industry, given the weather in California, which is spectacular every day, and the desert as well, a lot of airlines sent their aircraft to be parked in California or Arizona. So we had the privilege to see some beautiful aircraft. And then also given LAX was still operating at a much reduced capacity, but you had mapped it out to figure out where we needed to go and when. Tell everyone a little bit about that plane spotting community because you opened my eyes to a whole world that I didn't know existed, because as social distancing started to lift, we started actually congregating with more avid plane spotters. And tell everyone about a few of the most notable ones because we got to meet some celebrity plane spotters and hang out with them, and you had your channel and you were creating videos all the time. So tell everyone a bit about that experience.

Choosing A Pilot Path: Schools And Ratings

SPEAKER_02 15:29

Yeah, so in terms of celebrities that we met, because we used to I used to map out where we needed to go and by the videos that I watched, I looked on Google Maps and kind of figured out, oh, it's probably here in this road, and uh just looking up on different sites that it's probably on these locations. So we had tried the uh In N Out Burger Place, which is very famous, and then um along the different sides of the North and Side uh in Elsagundo, and that's where we met Airline Videos, which is um a celebrity plane spotter that then uh since then has blown up on YouTube and almost has a million subscribers, which is amazing for him. And uh he also introduced us when we were there to a big aviation YouTuber called Sam Sam Chewy. And he creates uh airline reviews and he goes on Emirates First Class or Etihad's Residence and uh reviews them in partnership with Airlines.

Hours, Licenses, And The First Solo

SPEAKER_00 16:31

Yeah, it was such a special community that really formed during that time, uh, and specifically around airline videos, because not only was he such a nice guy, he obviously was trying to make his way. He had uh brace, he had uh stickers and he had keychains and he had all of his branding and he was promoting his channel, and he's now since he was his goal at the time, he was uh a videographer with Fox News, like a news station in LA. And his whole object goal was to move to from being a news videographer uh to being a full-time plane spotter and shooting all of these airplanes landing and taking off at LAX. And as many of our listeners know or uh can look up, you know, he's now got multiple different channels, has his YouTube has blown up, he now does it full-time. And not only was he such a nice guy, when Sam Chewy came through town, he texted us, he uh he saw us that we were there, and he asked me, Does is your son really into he knows Sam Chewy? And I was like, Yeah, he's he watches a ton of his YouTube videos because this is a big famous YouTuber that flies on some of the most incredible first-class flights around the world, and he documents it and he's got a massive following and a fan base. And he said, Well, just so you know he's coming by to meet me today, and I'm sure he'd be happy to meet your son as well. And so he texted us when Sam Chewy was there. We drove back, and you got a chance to meet him, which was one of your idols. So it was a kind of a cool moment to see you in awe of this YouTuber that you've seen for you know um hundreds of hours online, and he was the nicest guy, like he was such a nice guy, and he came out and just uh chatted with his fans and um anyway, it was a really cool world. So tell everyone what what happened to that channel because obviously you had a ton of amazing content on there, and I know uh granddad was your biggest fan, so Oliver used to cue up these videos, and it was so sweet, it kept us connected during the pandemic, and um uh when he was around, obviously he's you know he loved you dearly, and he was your biggest fan on YouTube. And so Oliver used to set up these launches for his videos, and you'd often have an audience of like two or three people, and it was always him, and he was always like right there commenting. So tell everyone a little bit about that, because that's that's a really fond memory for me.

SPEAKER_02 18:42

Yeah, I agree. It was amazing, especially when I did a couple of those live streams one of the times with the uh simulator. He was always in the chat um giving me good advice. Um, and yeah, so what I used to do was um I used to premiere my videos on YouTube, which I'm sure people are familiar with. Um so you basically set up a launch so it counts down. I don't know if you remember those countdowns from like two minutes, and I'd get my intro in, and um it would be that that little plane noise sometimes. Uh that intro. But yeah, so it was just those premieres. I'd get everyone to watch them. It would just be us and granddad pretty much. But um, I really enjoyed making them and uh editing them, and I learned actually I didn't I didn't even realize how much editing skills I was gonna learn, and um so many things I would learn just from me having fun as a kid.

SPEAKER_00 19:36

Yeah, and I should highlight too, obviously, mom's parents, so yeah your grand and grandpa were avid followers and engaged as well. Of course, yes. And even when they were visiting and like they would watch you debut your video and watch the countdown and we'd all cheer, because you would you'd cue it all up and we'd have to watch it on the big screen altogether. And then the next it's you uh narrating. And so we loved it. But then all of a sudden, Oliver, you went to high school and OC Wings. So OC Wings was not Orange County, even though many people thought that because we lived there at the time. Um, but clearly it was your initials, Oliver Christian. So OC Wings, you had a really cool thing going, and all of a sudden, one day we discovered you'd taken it all down. And uh so tell us what brought that about. You know, you're 14, 15, you're 18 now. I totally understand that stage of life, but yeah, tell everyone a little bit more what happened to it because I'm sure other people will be look looking for it after this and they're not gonna be able to find it.

Fleet Strategy: Narrow Bodies Beat Jumbo Jets

SPEAKER_02 20:34

Well, yeah, so I mean you just get to that age and like you talk to people about it, and I mean it's I I didn't really get made fun of for it. People genuinely thought it was cool, but I just was more embarrassed because I didn't really want these videos out still. I was young, I had a high voice, and it was kind of just a little bit embarrassing. But now I look back at them and I'm like, oh, it's actually pretty cool. Um, so I had I have actually opened up a few videos, a few of my popular videos uh back on YouTube now, so you can find them again. Um, because I was showing my friends here in university what I used to make. Um and I had also moved towards instead of YouTube, towards Instagram with uh my photos in Toronto. And um, I still have that account, but I I haven't posted in a while as well. You kind of just get busy, and that's uh that's why I kind of ended the YouTube bit.

SPEAKER_00 21:28

Well, you definitely had more followers and activity on YouTube at your height than maybe we do today. So we'll have to maybe get a few of those videos back active again if you're up for it, and I'm sure some of our listeners would be keen to check them out. We'll be right back.

SPEAKER_01 21:45

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Single-Type Fleets: Ryanair And Southwest

SPEAKER_00 22:18

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SPEAKER_01 23:35

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Legacy Carriers’ Complexity And Training

SPEAKER_00 24:15

And now back to the show. The other thing you mentioned is the photography, because that was another cool thing that took off, especially when we did our round-the-world trip that we were very fortunate to do when you guys were 12 years old, right before we moved to LA. Many of my colleagues that I work with at the Travel Corporation knew at the time, but we took three months and did an around the world trip as a family. We had the opportunity to, you know, with three months to figure out where we were going to go. And so everyone pulled out uh everyone got to pick the top 10 places they wanted to go to. We put them all in a hat and um we pulled out the destinations. If there was if any destination had three votes, it was definitely on the list, two votes, it was most likely on the list. And once we got down to one vote, everyone had to argue on behalf of where they wanted to go. And this was kind of where you were getting much more focused on also taking videos, places before LA, of course. And um tell everyone the destination that you really wanted to get to and why.

SPEAKER_02 25:09

Yeah, so the destination I really wanted to get to was Dubai. I had obviously seen tons of things from there, and um Emirates also being a huge hub in Dubai. I really wanted that is the place I really wanted to go to for the aviation, for the Birch Khalifa, for the Dubai Mall for countless amount of reasons, for the Palm, the Atlantis. I just thought it was the coolest place. And um actually when we were there, I got to try the uh A380 experience where you sit up in the uh in the simulator cockpit, and um all the people were impressed with how much I knew at such a young age when I got into the simulator.

SPEAKER_00 25:50

Yeah, people were just you could just take off and land this. You didn't even need any instructions. You knew where all the buttons were. It was quite yeah. It was quite something. But so you know we obviously were very keen to indulge you in that um experience and we're thrilled that you know we got to fly into Dubai on an A380. We've had the fort good fortune to fly on A380s a few times. It's definitely my favorite aircraft. And um the and really you introduced me to it in many ways, but the that experience uh was particularly special because we but one of the things you started to do was taking these photos. And uh this was a whole world that you introduced to me too, which is that you can actually post your photos and get credit for it. So you know you're doing the YouTube videos, but tell everyone a little bit about that, because that's something that not only continued through high school, yeah, even after you were no longer doing got the OC Wings YouTube, we were still going to the airport, like right up until this past summer, you've been taking photos, and now Oliver can drive himself. That was the big change. And I said to him, I'm like, is it still okay if I go with you just as a passenger, even though now you've been going with your friends as well? But tell everyone about the photography side and where these pictures get published.

Orders, Wide-Bodies, And New Routes

SPEAKER_02 27:00

Yeah, so what I realized is when I was taking all these videos in LA, um, I could be taking photos, and because I would look at Flight Radar, and I would see the fact that I'm looking at Flight Radar and I'm seeing these photos of these planes, and I was like, where would you upload those photos to like if you wanted to take a photo of the plane, how do you upload them so they show up under flight radar? So I switched from video to photo, and that's part of the reason that I got rid of the uh YouTube channel because I wanted to take photos and upload them onto Flight Radar. And so when we moved to back to Toronto, I started taking I started switching to photos and uploading them to a website called Jetphotos.com. And I had a couple photos. It's really hard to get them because you have to get them screened and made sure that they're a really good photo for them to be published. And to this day now I have about a hundred photos on there, and that's what really switched was like if I can if people can press on this aircraft and see my photo, that's the coolest thing.

SPEAKER_00 28:13

And it's so and this is where you know, given that you've had this passion since you were six years old for uh airlines and aviation, the big question was becoming a pilot. And that's one of the things I want to ask you now about now, because I'm sure many of our listeners are intrigued to know what the journey is. I've got a number of uh friends and colleagues who either are pilots or their kids are also keen to become pilots, so it ends up becoming a conversation about the programs you go to, flight hours, what the journey is in this career. And I I want to talk about that because you have a lot of experience now, but you didn't even necessarily six months ago because you still hadn't flown. And uh but tell everyone a little bit about the programs that are available to become a pilot, especially for someone like yourself, Oliver. Clearly, there are flight schools that people can uh do their flight training and you can become a pilot at any stage in your career. And obviously, there is plant there's plenty of people out there that become pilots that just fly privately. But your goal and ambition has been for many years to be a commercial airline pilot. Every time you talk about flying, everyone tells you, Oliver, you should be a cadet. You should get involved in like you're like, I have no interest in military, I just want to fly commercial aviation. And uh one sweet thing I have to share with our listeners too is that Oliver had looked up the pay scale and uh many years ago and realized that one of the best routes to fly was British Airways, uh London to New York. And that was sort of like your goal. And I'm I'm keen to ask you about that as to whether or not that's still your ambition. But tell everyone a little bit about how you become a pilot in terms of the university, the flight school, and what's required.

Airports To Watch: Middle East And Asia

SPEAKER_02 29:50

Yeah, so the journey to becoming a pilot, there's lots of different ways. Obviously, you have to go to a flight school, but um, so in my personal situation, I chose to go to Windsor since you can get a degree, a degree in arts, and then you can also go to flight school, and both are combined. And it, although it's a lot of work, it's still um it's a good thing to do at the same time. Um, but there's there's Western, there's Waterloo, there's Seneca, which is really good. Um, and there's tons of other flight schools just without a university program that you can go to, and you can pretty much start at any time. Um so yeah, in my situation, Windsor, you start flying first year, which was a big thing for me. I really wanted to get as many hours in during university and actually fly before I knew this is what I wanted to do, even though I was pretty certain. Um, but yeah, steps to becoming a commercial pilot. There's there is many, and my program will take me through them all, fortunately. Um, so firstly, right now, what I'm working on is my private pilot's license. I have about 15 hours now and about 35 landings to my name. So I'm still pretty new. Um, I'm a first-year student, obviously. So the plan is first year to get your private pilot's certificate, then through the next two years to get your commercial pilot's license, which is called your CPL, and then you have to get an instrument rating, and then you have to get a night rating, and then so you can fly IFR, which is your instrument flight rules, and then you can fly at night, which is also IFR, and then you have to get a multi-engine rating, so you can fly those big jets, like an A380, right? It has four engines. You need to get that rating, and then eventually you need to get your airline transport pilot's license so you can actually fly in the airline. So it's many steps. There's definitely a lot of time before me. As I said, 35 landings to my name right now, but I will try my best to get there. And yes, the commercial route has always been the way I want to go, but those are uh the six steps, pretty much, the six licenses you need to get before going anywhere.

AI’s Role In ATC And Melbourne’s Digital Tower

SPEAKER_00 32:08

Well, I know you're on the cusp of doing your very first solo, which is the next step for where you are exactly. And I can't wait to come and see you fly. Mom is obviously terrified about the idea, as you know. She likes to hear that you're doing it, but she doesn't really like to think about it, given that uh, you know, clearly it's uh as parents of someone becoming a pilot, it's uh, you know, it was one thing for you to get your driver's license, it's a whole other thing to think of you uh, you know, three, five thousand feet up in the air. But the uh part I wanted just to highlight to our listeners too is that what Oliver mentioned is the programs he was referring to are in Canada, of course, and there's universities or colleges. Uh Windsor for our American listeners is right across from Detroit, and we're a huge baseball fan, so we've already seen a bunch of Detroit Tigers games. We're clearly Blue Jays fans, but we love baseball, so that's actually really convenient. Oliver's campus and his residence is exactly three kilometers, uh, which is what, two miles? Um, or flip it the other way, sorry. It's about three miles or five kilometers from uh the Detroit Tiger Stadium. And so you can, as you mentioned, Oliver, you can take college, you can, you know, and we had said to you, we really want you to get a degree. So you you know chose university, we can get a degree, and be able to get your pilot's license as well. Just tell everyone about the flight hours that you need. That's one thing I think I'm keen to make sure everyone understands. The the program itself is four years. How many flight hours do you need? And also what happens at the end of that four-year time period when you graduate. Okay, so just starting small.

Advice For Aspiring Pilots And Medicals

SPEAKER_02 33:42

For a solo to fly the plane on your own, you need your student pilot certificate, uh, or sorry, permit, student pilot cert uh permit, and that's 10 hours to then fly a plane solo. Then to get your PPL, it's 45 hours. That's the minimum. A lot of people get it later because it takes a lot of time, obviously, to get the certificate. Then for your CPL, you need 200. This is in Canada. Um, and from there on, uh you have to work towards, especially in America, you have to work towards about 1,500 hours, is that's what the FAA requires. So whether you're doing a job like flight instructing, like my instructor, or you're doing a job in out in BC in Canada for um firefighting, a lot of people would like to do that because they need pilots to fly and fight fires. There's so many options to get paid, but have little hours and uh try to work work your way up and get hours to the point where you can work an airline job.

SPEAKER_00 34:48

I appreciate you sharing that. And one of the things I want to zoom out now for all of our listeners, and we will come back towards the end of the discussion on some advice for you for aspiring pilots and other aviation fans out there, and I'll I'll plan to finish our conversation. I've put some notes together in anticipation of our call that I'm really keen to ask Oliver and and and uh that will hopefully be a benefit to many of our listeners, not only getting a chance to meet my son, but one of the things that I wanted to ask him about is this industry that he loves so much because it was one of the reasons I wanted to bring this series to life within season six. We had not focused on aviation yet, and even as I was talking about it, you had some ideas, and we did a on season six, we did a series on loyalty. And on the very first episode, I had a gentleman named Oliver, coincidentally, from KM Malta. And you, Oliver, listened to that episode just um and sent me a note, and uh you didn't realize I'd mentioned you on the episode. And one of the things I was keen to ask him was given that he was very much like you, someone that was an avid plane spotter and like an aviation geek or self self-described aviation geek, he was really uh knowledgeable on the background of the different uh global alliances and the different uh manufacturers and the different models they've introduced over the years. And this is a world that you know so well. So I wanted to actually give you the opportunity to share your knowledge with me and with our listeners about aviation trends in 2026, which is the big focus of this topic, this series that we're doing. So let's maybe start with aircraft and technology. Tell us a little bit. I know you were gutted when the 747 was retired and also the A380 was um uh officially no new models were being built. It's obviously going to be maintained for for many years to come, given how many are in um in operation today. But tell us a little bit about new aircraft and technology because you're always the one highlighting to me about some of these new lighter planes and the ones that are more fuel efficient. And then when you introduce this new aircraft, it opens up new routes because you don't necessarily need the same hubs anymore. So, again, a lot of these things I've learned from you over the years. Tell us a little bit in 2026, what are some of the new aircraft models or some of the upgrades that you're most excited about?

Dream Career And Closing Announcements

SPEAKER_02 37:03

Yeah, so obviously the two big brands being Airbus and Boeing, and you can even throw Embraer, the Brazilian company, in there as well. But um what airlines are looking for are small planes that can fly a super long distance and use no fuel, pretty much. That's what everyone wants. They we've moved away from say A380 and the 747 with these with the idea that there needs to be these big hubs like what we mentioned before in Dubai with all these A380s. Because what people want is people want point-to-point travel. They don't want point-to-point to point travel, right? They want to just get to their destination and fly one one way uh and get there as fast as they possibly can. So, and but there's not enough demand for that to fly uh A380 to a really small place. So, what airlines are trying to do is have lots of flights with smaller, more fuel-efficient planes like the A320 Neo, like KM Malta has, or the 737 Max 8, which has obviously encountered its difficulties, um, or what Porter's just got, which is the Embraer uh E190E2, which is Embraer's new airplane, and you just see all these airlines trying to fit the demands of its customers and moving away from that big hub airport. So I would say the most exciting new developments, um, which I personally for me is uh the 777 X. That's gonna be that's an enormous plane for Boeing. Uh that they're still trying to get out to new airlines, and that's gonna be definitely a new thing we'll see maybe 2020, maybe late 2026, but it possibly could be delayed further. Um and yeah, there's definitely lots of new things happening, but definitely the main point is we're moving away from these big jumbo jets.

SPEAKER_00 39:11

So explain that the narrow body versus wide body. What's the difference between those two types of aircraft?

SPEAKER_02 39:16

So the difference is what I was saying before, pretty much with the fact that you don't want to cram 500 people in a jet where there's no demand for it because half the plane's empty. So you want to have a smaller plane that's more fuel efficient than the jumbo jet because its four engines are producing and using crazy amounts of fuel and it's not good for the environment. It's so we just want everything that's gonna balance balance out. So we want smaller, narrow body aircraft that are gonna take people to their destination and have lots of planes for the demand.

SPEAKER_00 40:00

So one of the innovations, and this is again what you pointed out to me, is these long range aircraft that can now can fly like nineteen hours and then open up these incredible new routes. But you clearly, as part of that, you need to have beautiful first class accommodation for the people that can afford it, that you know, whether it be the showers that we see on some of these aircraft, and I'm hoping at some point we get a chance to have an epic flight like that again, uh, Oliver. So for any airlines that might be listening to this that uh want to be on both travel trends and OC wings, uh, we could do a uh a little combination and and fly somewhere and and document it. But what you're highlighting though, uh more importantly overall, is the fact that whether it's these Airbus A320s or the 737 Maxes, which yes, of course, had its challenging uh the 737 Max 8, its challenging introduction to the market. But those kind of mid-sized planes are what a lot of carriers have been ordering and operating in their route. So let's walk through some of the carriers and what they operate. Because again, this is part for me when I'm uh mentioning that I'm flying Ryanair, and then you say what air someone asks me what I'm flying, and you know instantly because you know that's uh all their planes or Southwest. So let's let's just walk through them. So Ryanair, tell everyone what the fleet is for Ryanair.

SPEAKER_02 41:16

So Ryanair operates only strictly Boeing aircraft, they strictly only fly the 737 and multiple types of the 737. So you've got the 737 Max 8-200, that's what the Ryanair uses, and they also most of their fleet consists of the 737-800, but they're starting to age and Ryanair is moving towards the new maxes.

SPEAKER_00 41:42

And why would they do that? Why would they focus around one aircraft?

SPEAKER_02 41:47

So the reason why they focus on one aircraft, and you've seen this with EasyJet as well, except they've chosen the Airbus route, is that, and this goes for both, is that you want to be able to train pilots to fly the aircraft, but it's way easier to train them all on one aircraft. That means all you can use the same simulators, and it's also a thing of buying in bulk. Like you just have all the same thing, and it's honestly the main point is it's easy to train pilots, so everyone is on the same page, and you're just hopping in the same aircraft every time, and you're not having to get new type ratings moving up because at Ryanair, you're literally flying the same aircraft all the time, but you're moving from the first officer to the captain. But at a place like Air Canada, you're moving from maybe their express, like their jazz, and you're flying little embrayers, or then you're flying Airbus, and then maybe you're flying Boeing, and then you're flying the bigger Boeing air aircraft, the bigger Airbus aircraft. And that through that takes a lot more training and costs and time on the pilots to move up through those like levels of aircraft. Now, not to say that you could be flying the same aircraft all the time, but there's definitely people like myself who want to move up through that rank and want to fly the big jets.

SPEAKER_00 43:12

And we'll come to that because I know that's your big ambition. But just on this, on this topic, Oliver, when you look at the ultra-low-cost carriers and highlighting, as you rightly point out, the fact that they're consistently flying the same aircraft because they, for repairs, for turnaround, and also for capacity, they know how they maximize towards yield. Uh, the point you're making about you know not flying a plane at um at half capacity and especially with additional uh fuel cost. And so, how do you maximize to reduce costs for airline tickets and also uh maximize profits for the airline is giving that consistency. So we see that for sure uh in the ultra-low-cost carriers. Um, tell everyone who Southwest uses, because they are kind of one of the original pioneers in this space in the US market, where many of our listeners are. And then the other thing I'd like you to highlight too is that when you move up to companies like Delta or even like American Airlines, kind of sticking with the American focus, now you have a situation where you have they have multiple different types of aircraft. So tell us, tell me a little bit more about what that looks like when you move from a Southwest to a larger global airline that now has a lot more complexity to run their business. So their fleet consists of a whole range of different types of aircraft.

SPEAKER_02 44:27

Yeah, exactly. So when Southwest is almost the exact same as Ryanair, they fly the exact same type of plane. Um, they fly the 737s and all different types of them. So they fly the 737 uh 700, the 737 800, and they've also moved towards a 737 Max 8. And again, it's the same reason. Easy for turnarounds, easy for pilot training, easy for repairs. Um, not necessarily the plane, but just the consistency that it's the same type. Um, but then moving towards an airline like Delta or American or United, where they fly all sorts of different planes, uh whether it's Airbus, Boeing, and moving up that ranking as a pilot, it's it's hard because you have to keep learning different types of aircraft. As much as there are similarities to each one, each aircraft has a different cockpit and each type of aircraft. So you have to learn a whole new thing. For example, I'm flying the DA-20. This is a diamond aircraft, and I had to do an entire course to learn how exactly that aircraft works. But for the airlines, it's like that. They have to learn it, but then they also have to simulate it, and it's a lot more costs, and there's a lot more things, but yet again, they are international airlines and fly outside of the states, unlike Southwest. So it's a definitely a different focus, and they need those different aircrafts, but it's harder for a pilot to move right, it just takes more time and money.

SPEAKER_00 46:13

And you've always been tracking whenever an airline makes a big acquisition of new aircraft. I mean, when we were doing that global uh trip that we were very fortunate to take uh at the time, because this was literally months before COVID, we were doing this trip in December, January, February, um in 2019 going into uh and then COVID hit like six months later, or like we it was March, obviously 2020. And we so we managed to do this trip, which was you know very fortunate. But even as we were on the trip, the one thing that Oliver was responsible for was planning all of our flights, and I think you're getting the understanding as to why that was the case. That was his responsibility, was picking out all our flight routes, and you could choose then the different airlines we would fly with. And one of the ones that stood out to me then was the fact you really wanted to fly Ethiopian airlines because they had just bought, including um the 737 Max 8. And tragically, obviously, that was the one of the planes that uh that went down when they had their initial issues and two planes crashed. Um, but when you look at those airlines, because one of the things I want to ask you about is the emerging markets and how you're seeing new routes open up, uh routes, as our uh friends in the US might refer to it. But so new routes and global connectivity, tell us what you're paying attention to when you're looking at you know Air India buying a whole new fleet of planes, and then what that actually means as far as opening up opening up uh new markets. So tell us what you're looking for, and I guess what you've seen in the last year are some of the big developments on who is adding all of these new planes to their capacity.

SPEAKER_02 47:47

Yeah, so I think the biggest one right now that airlines are looking towards is the uh Boeing 777 X, because it's got these folding wing tips, it's got all these cool things, and the Boeing 777 is one of the biggest um changes, like it had a huge impact on aviation because it had two engines, it could fly over the ocean, and there's still tons of them, which was unheard of at a time where you could only have three engines, which is something called Etops, where you can fly over the water with only two engines, and only certain planes can do it. But what I see for 2026 and what's going to be happening is um well, with for example, Air India, they bought an A350. That's been a great thing for them. They need that connectivity with all their long flights, and Delta just bought new 787-10s, which is really good for them. And LuSanta had bought new 787s, and you can see all these airlines are looking towards um when they're buying uh instead of narrow bodies, when they're buying these bigger jets, they're not gonna be the jumbo jets, they're gonna be the more fuel-efficient, two-engined A350s or 787s.

SPEAKER_00 49:09

Cool. And this is where as they get the new long-haul jets or have more regional capacity, they are then able to open up new routes. And you when you mentioned the A380, one of the things that everyone was anticipating and needing to prepare for was the changes to uh the airports to be able to board and disembark uh an A380. So, you know, the given the size of those planes and also the runways. This is something else that you've educated me on, is like you know, A380s just can't let it land at any airport. And you know, when you were um learning to fly in your room, you were also always keen to fly and land at some of the most difficult airports in the world. When I would pass by Oliver when he was uh still living at home, and obviously we miss you terribly, you know that. But like when Oliver was, you know, um here every day, I would often encounter him in the hallway. And one of the first things you'd ask me was like, Where should I fly right now? Where should I fly tonight? And you he would set up your flight and then sleep and then get up and land in the morning. You uh and so you're always looking to land in different destinations, and you were picking different aircraft, and you were trying to like, you know, I was gonna spirit airlines, or you were trying to recreate flights that we've actually taken. We'll be right back.

SPEAKER_01 50:21

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SPEAKER_00 52:40

And now, back to the show. So tell me, Oliver, when you look at the world in 2026 and some of the more exciting destinations that airlines are flying to now. I know South America has really started to uh expand. We talked about that in the One World episode that led off this series. We talked a lot about Asia as well. What are you seeing? What are you paying attention to? Because I know you look at different airports around the world and you follow a lot of activity on social media. What's standing out to you in 2026 as some of the emerging markets and where travelers might be able to experience with some of these new fleet of jets and new routes that are opening up?

SPEAKER_02 53:19

Yeah, so definitely what I'm seeing a lot, like whether it's on flight radar or just on Instagram or anything, um, there's been lots of new upgrades to airports. Um, like Abu Dhabi has had some great updates. Um, some of the airports in Saudi Arabia and then in Turkey and Istanbul, there's an amazing new airport. Um, these are more hub airports, but it's also destination airports. Um, and you've even I've even seen um with uh airlines coming to Canada, like Qatar. Qatar comes to Montreal and Canada now, and there's a nice airport in Doha, especially with the World Cup. Um a couple years ago, there was lots of travel there. So I think there's a lot more travel in the Middle East, there's a lot more um travel in Saudi Arabia, and they're buying these new jets, they're putting a lot of money in, just like Emirates. They they had bought the A350 to have and now compete with these, again, wide-body and transatlantic planes that can fly for like 19 hours. And so, yeah, it's definitely an exciting, exciting thing to see, these new airports and being able to open up travel to so much more people.

SPEAKER_00 54:40

Well, one of the things I know we were always so keen to fly Singapore Airlines and some of the Asian carriers. And what's really interesting when we look at the Skytrax rating for top airlines of the world in 2025, you know, Qatar was number one and Emirates was number four. Um, but you also had um A, uh, which came in at number five, Japan Airlines, Korean Air are all up there, um, Turkish Airlines at number six. Turkish is always sort of uh um punched above its weight as a global uh carrier, like it's always kind of in the mix. Um, Cathay Pacific, of course, which is an Asian carrier. And so um it's not really until you get to the top of that way uh or the bottom of the list, you're like looking at Air France. Um so there's not many European, there's not many uh American or North American carriers on the global list. It really is a collection of uh Asian carriers and Middle Eastern carriers, which is uh genuinely fascinating. And the airports that you're keen to see around the world, I'm always taking every uh takeoff and landing video and trying to grab pictures whenever I'm I'm traveling. Um, what are the top airports in the world that you still want to see or that you'd recommend that when people are traveling through them? Because one of the things that Ollie mentioned to me, I think our listeners are gonna kick out of this. Like my wife, Jocelyn, and I all um accept the fact we have to go through airports to get where we're going, but it's not the highlight of our trip. Yes, when you have status, it can be nice to hang out in the lounge and to be able to kind of go through uh and check in really smoothly, but ultimately it's the experience and destination. Whereas you've always told me, Ollie, your favorite experience is the airports. The airports and flying. Like that's actually the highlight for you. So, what are some of those standout airports like what you just mentioned in the Middle East? What are some of the other ones that people should be planning to spend more time at in 2026?

SPEAKER_02 56:32

Yeah, for sure. So Singapore definitely is an amazing airport. They have that wonderful, like, forest-looking place with the waterfall. I'm sure lots of people have seen that. Um and then I would say going back to the Middle East too, there's um Doha is an amazing airport. I'd I've never been there, but I've seen lots of photos. There's lots of nice architecture there. Um also with Abu Dhabi as well, amazing airport, and um also Istanbul with their new airport as well. Um, there's definitely lots to see around the world, but um, those are definitely the standout ones. There was also a new uh airport opening up in Melbourne, which we could get into later with uh maybe AI and how they've done their air trafficking um network there, because it's different than a lot of other airports, but but yeah, for for if you're looking for a cool airport experience, it's definitely the Middle East, Singapore, and um uh mostly Asia, which with the sky sky tracks ratings kind of makes sense because you're flying on a really nice airline, then you also have a really nice airport.

SPEAKER_00 57:46

Yeah. Well, maybe let's actually let's get into where the NBA where the aviation industry is headed. And I'm glad you actually mentioned AI. You know that's a big focus for me and the discussions on our podcast. You obviously know that we run uh the summit. And one funny thing that came up more recently when I was telling a friend that Oliver is headed to university to become a pilot, um, his comment was he he's heard about AI, right? Like he knows he knows that he's gonna, his role is gonna be made obsolete in the future. And uh it was really interesting to me when I spoke to people at the Aviation Festival. It's one of the uh events that we're an official podcast partner of, and they were highlighting to me the ex the the great need for pilots going forward, like the next 20 or 40 years, like the need for pilots long term, even with the uh um the advances with AI, the likelihood that there's not going to be someone in the cockpit flying the plane is incredibly unlikely in the next generation. Um, because obviously it still hasn't happened to cars, it's still a long way away, despite the fact there are tons of advances. And yes, of course, there is automation um that you can explain to us. So I'm glad you brought up AI. But yeah, let's talk about where the aviation industry is headed, especially for the next generation of pilots like yourself. So tell us how you see technology and specifically AI playing a role in the industry. And ultimately, I'm also keen to know what still excites you so much about entering the industry. But tell us a little bit more about technology first and how you're learning about it in school and how important it's going to be to the next generation of pilots.

SPEAKER_02 59:20

Yeah, for sure. So I don't think AI will take over planes for a very long time, as you said, like next generation. Like we haven't even seen it in cars yet. I know Tesla and stuff. There's definitely a lot of automation in cars now, but I don't think we'll see planes flying themselves for for a long time. And um, but what I think we will see is advances and improvements, like we've seen in Melbourne with their new airport, with air traffic control. Because that's the most important thing for safety is that you have good communication with the other aircraft and If we can get AI to space out aircraft and help air traffic control, because we've seen in the US there hasn't been as many air traffic controllers like that one situation in Newark where they only had one controller. I think that in the future AI could definitely help the controllers because it is an extremely hard job, and I have the utmost respect for them because I don't think I could do it with how much hard work and stress it is. So I think that's where people I think should put their focus is towards controlling the aircraft controlling and instead of the pilot the pilot fly.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:43

Yeah, and tell us so specifically that example you mentioned in in Melbourne, because I haven't read about that. I know a lot about what's happening in the developments with AI and the various use cases, but not specifically in this example. So tell everyone about the new airport and exactly what's happening there with them using AI with flight control.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:01

So in Melbourne, they built a new airport where instead of air traffic controllers, as you may know, an air traffic tower is one that looks out over the entire airport and you get a real view of what's going on. But in Melbourne, there's now screens instead of la lookout from a tower, there's now screens, which is totally unheard of. And they've made this with AI and trying to reduce the building, and it's it's a really cool and fascinating thing that we'll we'll definitely see more of in the future.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:39

Cool, that's great. And given that you have committed yourself to this industry, this profession, and I know many of my friends who are listening to this that know about you, that are uh meeting you for the first time by virtue of this, like John Leotier, who runs Travel AI based in Vancouver, has been a great partner of us for many years. His son is one year older, and he is also studying to become a pilot. Um, so for any of our listeners who might be thinking, I'd love to become a pilot but don't know where to start, what advice might you give them or their kids that they're gonna tell about this episode?

SPEAKER_02 1:02:12

Yeah, so even talking to people, even now in the program, like they're not necessarily as into planes or they're not they didn't have as much interest as I did. But what I'd say personally is try to get passionate about this and try to indulge yourself in it before you're actually working hard because it'll make the work so much easier. You can only and obviously a lot of people say this it's way easier to work out of passion instead of like having to do something. And I think all pilots should be working out of passion because it is a challenging thing, and if you're not passionate about something, it's definitely hard to understand certain concepts and if you're not willing to put in the effort.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:03

You know, what's interesting for me hearing you say that, and especially speaking to you over the holidays about the number of kids that enter the program and just what you describe, because my assumption was everyone that gets into aviation must be like you, Oliver, that must like just have this incredible passion for planes and aviation, and you know, not knowing how things would work out, you know, we never knew for sure that you this is what you're gonna do in university. And you know, some kids change their path and may change their path again. But for you, this was something you were really passionate about. And what I found really interesting when you were telling us about some of the kids in your program is that you know they're choosing it because they think that it's you know, they like the hours, they like the fact they get to travel, or they like the money, or they just like the fact that they'll be like Maverick and um be uh the cool guy at the bar with the with the shades and be able to say I'm a pilot. And so many people approach it for different reasons or ambitions. Um, but people also drop out of the program. That was the other thing you highlighted to me is that like what is it, you know, per year, is what, 40 students that start in the program at your particular university?

SPEAKER_02 1:04:08

Yeah, well, I don't know the exact statistics, and obviously they may change with what types of people enter the program, but all I'll say is that if you're passionate about it, and I as I said this before, it it it won't necessarily be a breeze, but you'll enjoy it so much more. It's it's a hard thing to kind of just hop into and be like, oh, I just want to do this because I want to tell people I'm a pilot, right? It's it's just it's hard, it's just hard work. But I think when you're super interested in it, and it's definitely hard work for me too, but when you're passionate and interested in it, um, it's definitely less likely that you'll lose interest in it and uh because you'll be overworked.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:54

Yeah. One of the other tips, if you don't mind me sharing this, because I found this fascinating when you went through the process, is that we took our kids to a university fair, and one of the one of the uh pilots that Oliver had a chance to meet had encouraged him to make sure that before he applies and gets accepted to a program that he actually does the full medical to make sure he passes the requirements, which is like the eye test. And then it's unfortunately there's actually been kids that graduate uh from the program and find out they can't become a pilot. And so, or they've entered the program and then they have to change because they've had concussions and there is like a risk factor there. So it's unfortunate. That was one kid that we met when we were together visiting another school. He was in the the aviation program, he played football, he had a series of concussions, and then it turns out he didn't pass the medical, and so his life was changing, and he had to he was doing some additional courses, and so that was a really fascinating learning. And one thing that you did in advance of going was actually made sure you got the medical, so that wasn't going to be a surprise. Um, the thing I wanted to ask you though, too, is that now that you're in the program and you are thinking about what your dream career might be, I just I just have two more questions for you. But obviously, I could talk to you for for hours, son, and I'm sure our listeners have enjoyed hearing from you and and you getting some insights from your perspective as you know, the next generation that's coming up that will be shaping the future of aviation. But tell us what your ideal career looks like. I know I gave the example of the you know flying what was a 747 or British Airways from London and New York. I know that was your dream at one point. Um, but tell everyone where that's evolved to today. What what would it be an ideal career in aviation for you?

SPEAKER_02 1:06:38

So, yeah, so definitely after I graduate this program um with all the ratings that are suggested, um I do think I want to work either as a flight instructor or um I want to work maybe out in BC or on one of the coasts in Canada to build up ours. And from there, my dream career would be again, probably at British Airways or somewhere like that. Um I don't know about the SEM 47 anymore, because it's gone. But an A350 or a 777 or one of the new aircraft like we've talked about coming out, that that would be the dream career for me. And I'm sure a lot of people is being that captain who gets to come on and be and say, uh clear weather and uh so that's uh definitely the dream, but it's definitely gonna take a long, a long time to uh get there.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:33

Well, the good fortune of our uh of granddad was that you know he's from the UK, I was born in the UK, but it's one of the great benefits is you do have British citizenship by virtue of um of myself being born there. And I know that's one of the things that greatly appeals to you is to live in the UK and to fly British Airways and to have that opportunity. So I really hope that ultimately does become your reality. And you know, it'll be an incredible experience one day for your mom and I to be sitting in the back of a plane that you're flying, and maybe you'll come up and let us say hi in the cockpit if that's even allowed anymore. Um, but I can't express enough how truly proud I am of you. And um, you know, for me having this conversation with you, I'm I'm glad the team suggested it. Uh mom was uh endorsed it as well. And for me, it just absolutely felt right given you know where we've gotten to with this podcast, you even helping me in the early days get set up because you were onto this YouTube thing before me, and you understood some of the things that are needed to get set up for lighting and cameras and all the things that we're moving into. Mainly the tripods and stuff like that. Exactly. Very much so. So I've watched you do this for many years, and now I'm doing it, and you've inspired me, son. So thank you for making the time for this conversation. I wish you great luck with your program, and obviously I can't wait to see you again soon. But yeah, thanks so much for joining us on Travel Trends.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:55

Thank you. I got a flight tomorrow to wake up to. So I gotta go soon.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:01

All right. We'll let you go. And um, yeah, have a great flight tomorrow, and I look forward to uh seeing you again soon. So thank you. It's great to be on here. Fantastic. And thanks again to all of our listeners for being a part of this episode. I really hope you enjoyed the conversation here to round out our aviation series with my son Oliver Christian. Uh, that was really special and meaningful for me. And I also want to just to recognize Mram Shaikh from the family behind Hayes luggage that inspired me to actually do this because it was literally our conversation recording that spotlight episode when you talked about how meaningful it was for you to get see your daughters get involved in the business and how you want to have that legacy and to be able to uh steer the business in such a way that they can step into it. And so uh for me, there was something that strongly resonated there is that you know, we we do so much to be able to give these opportunities for our kids and whatever I can do to continue to help them on that journey. And this one, obviously, in this particular instance, it was Oliver helping me out today and being a great guest uh for our show. So uh I thank him again for joining us. And I also wanted to highlight that his amazing sister, Jocelyn, is actually gonna be with us at a couple of events this year. You may see Oliver or Jocelyn. We have an incredible event schedule for 2026. And given they both love flying and traveling, I'm actually gonna bring them to a couple of the conferences because we're gonna be doing full video at our shoots throughout 2026. So we'll have a booth, we'll have a whole setup, and we'll be recording video as well at each of the conferences we're gonna be at. So make sure that you check out travel trendspodcast.com slash events. You can see all the events we're gonna be at, which includes the arrival conference in Valencia coming up. We have a special promo code uh thanks to Bruce and the team. So make sure that you register to join us for that event. We'll be at Focus Right in Europe and Florida later this year. We'll be at the Adventure Travel and Trade Association conference in Quebec City. We'll be aviation festival in June. I'll be at ITB coming up shortly. So we have some incredible events that we are going to be at. So definitely plan to join us. Reach out if you're gonna be there, and I'll look to try and include you in a special spotlight episode. And then don't forget, this is the final episode of our aviation series. But we have one more episode next week to round out season six. And I want to make sure that anyone listening to this in the next few days, share a highlight from season six and your enthusiasm for season seven. But whether it's a favorite episode like today's, a particular topic, or another guest that we had on, share that on any of the social channels, tag at travel trends podcast, and you'll be entered to win a Hayes luggage set. There's three of them that we're giving away that are each worth$1,500, the Astro luggage set. Thank you again to Hayes for sponsoring this series. And I want to make sure that for any of you like me that wants to rock Hayes luggage, you can order yours at haze.com. That's H-E-Y-S.com. Now, next week we will have our closing episode, our season finale, which is going to be all about transformational travel. And I have the real thrill to welcome back Joe Pine, the legendary author of the Experience Economy, now that he's just published his new landmark book for the Transformation Economy. And I will also have Jake Haupert, the founder of the Transformational Travel Council, rejoining us. This was one of our biggest highlights from last season. We told all of our listeners we're going to close out season six by bringing Joe back when his book is published, and Jake as well, for all of the developments they have planned for 2026. So make sure you're subscribed on the streaming platform of your choice to be notified when that episode goes live. And feel free to reach out to us with any suggestions you have for season seven and season eight, as well as all of our spotlight episodes that we are rolling out every Thursday and our series with Travel Zoo that's coming out every Tuesday. So lots of great content to look forward to. Feel free to email me anytime, Dan at Travel Trends Podcast, and check out our social channels Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Thanks again to my son Oliver. Thanks to the team for suggesting this. Thanks to all of our listeners for being a part of our journey. Until next week, safe travels.