High-Flying Hospitality

🎙️ In this episode of The VegasStrong Revival Podcast, Britt had the pleasure of interviewing Paul Sallach, the president and founder of All In Aviation. Paul shares his journey from working in the aviation industry to starting a high-end flight school in Las Vegas. They discuss the importance of hospitality in business and how providing exceptional customer experiences can truly set a business apart! Paul highlights the cost and process of becoming a pilot through his program, emphasizing the value of investing in quality training. They also touch on the sense of community that emerged in Las Vegas after the tragic events of October 1 and how the Golden Knights hockey team played a role in uniting the city. Overall, the episode showcases the resilience and spirit of VegasStrong, encouraging listeners to embrace the city's “can-do” attitude and support local businesses, like All-In-Aviation.

Key Takeaways:

1. Exceptional Customer Service: All In Aviation sets itself apart by focusing on delivering an unparalleled client experience, complete with literal red carpet treatment for all customers.
2. Quality Over Cost: While their services may be more expensive, the value delivered through high-end experiences and well-maintained, luxurious planes justifies the price.
3. Importance of Employee Experience: All In Aviation understands that happy employees lead to happy customers, making the work environment & employee satisfaction a top priority.
4. Flight Training and Aviation Safety: The school emphasizes training pilots to handle all conditions, particularly the challenging winds in Las Vegas, ensuring that their students are well-prepared for any situation.
5. Building a Community in Vegas: Paul Sallach reflects on how the city of Las Vegas has evolved, especially after the October 1 tragedy, becoming a more tight-knit community that he is proud to be part of.

Connect with All In Aviation:  @AllinAviation / 702-ALL-IN22 / AllinAviation.com

📲 Stay Connected to The VSR:

• Text the Podcast Hotline: 702-723-2343
• Social Media: @VegasStrongRevival
• Website: LaCritiqueLV.com/podcast

Let's keep the VegasStrong spirit alive! Share this episode with friends, family, and colleagues who love Las Vegas. Together, we can revive our city's passion for authentic service. 

Stay strong, Vegas! 💪

**LEGAL DISCLAIMER FOR THIS PODCAST AND THIS EPISODE CAN BE FOUND AT: LaCritiqueLV.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

La Critique believes in living a life full of experiences rather than possessions, which is why we designed a concierge service just for Vegas locals. We're all busy, and can any of us really keep up with all the changes around town? And yet, we still crave quality experiences when we go out and spend our valuable time and money. Now, imagine having a personal assistant whose credentials are quite literally hospitality snob and expert event planner. Seriously, leave all the details to us. Recommendations Personalized. Reservations? Done. More time enjoying our city and less time researching it? Absolutely. Subscribe today at LaCritiqueLV.com or give the gift of service by purchasing a subscription for your favorite person. Welcome to the Vegas Strong Revival Podcast. Buckle up because we're taking Vegas Strong culture to a whole new level this season. I'm Britt Whelan, your host, alongside co-host Desiree Wolfe, event professional and host of the Slightly Unfiltered Podcast. This season, the gloves are off and we're ditching the scripts for raw, relatable, and even shocking conversations, tackling real issues locals face, and bringing in voices from various industries like fitness, charity, aviation, and more. Don't forget to follow us on social media and visit Loughran for more about how we're helping residents and local business owners reconnect to the real meaning of hospitality. Ready or not, here we go. Well, today is a very exciting day because I have Paul Salek here in studio. Thank you for being here.

SPEAKER_00 1:35

Glad to be here, for

SPEAKER_01 1:36

sure. For everybody who doesn't know who you are, let me just explain a little bit about what I know. Okay. You are the president founder of All In Aviation. It was established in 2016 with your rock star wife and pilot, Lindsay.

SPEAKER_00 1:53

That's correct.

SPEAKER_01 1:54

Although you originally are from Canada, you moved here in 2009, awarded over the years with 2020's Nevada Small Business Person of the Year. Holy crap.

SPEAKER_00 2:08

2020 was not good except for that.

SPEAKER_01 2:11

Right. That's quite an accomplishment. So congratulations on that.

SPEAKER_00 2:15

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 2:16

You were also awarded Vegas inks 40 under 40 in 2021. How did that feel?

SPEAKER_00 2:22

Uh, that was pretty cool. A lot of it all sort of culminated with opening our new facility at the Henderson executive airport. Um, so we worked very closely with the small business administration to get the funding and get all the stuff lined up to do it. And then everybody in the whole city saw what we were doing, uh, the city of Henderson primarily, um, with, with, uh, construction, with the land lease, with, um, you know, just building a whole new facility there that we, we got some notice so it was it was really an honor to be part of the 40 under 40 I got it right as I turned you know 41 so I think I had a few days left to be 40 but it was great

SPEAKER_01 2:59

nice you are also a father of two awesome kids and living in Henderson have you always lived out there

SPEAKER_00 3:08

yeah yeah when we moved to town we wanted we wanted green grass so we were attracted to Green Valley because most of the area was green yeah and And now it's slowly not being green anymore, but that's where we've been and where we love. So yeah, we love Henderson.

SPEAKER_01 3:24

I also love Henderson and all of the things that the city of Henderson has been doing to promote community. I've never lived on that side of town personally, although I was born and raised in Vegas. Anyway, I've got some questions for you. Feel free to just be yourself, answer them as you wish. Obviously you have traveled to so many places all over the world. your pilots. I mean, you can literally probably pick up and go anywhere anytime you want, right?

SPEAKER_00 3:53

Pretty much. I mean, most of it is in the United States. I've been to all 48 of the lower states. I've just had the two outliers left to go to say I've been to every state. But, you know, the United States has about 6,000 airports and the airlines only serve 400 of them. So there's like 5,600 airports that people don't get to go to unless you have your own airplane or access to an airplane. So yeah, there's these tiny little runways scattered all over the place that I've been fortunate enough to be able to stop in, get gas, have a burger, whatever it might be, or just do a touch and go and say that we've been there. So yeah, America's the land of the free, the home of the brave, and you don't really get to experience that until you do it in an airplane and really realize how free we have it here.

SPEAKER_01 4:40

I love that. How many airports do we have here in Las Vegas area?

SPEAKER_00 4:43

Las Vegas, there's seven. Seven? Yep, six of them are owned by Clark. So there's the Henderson Airport where we're at, there's McCarran, there's the Gene Airport, there's North Las Vegas, there's Nellis, and then there's Gene. Nellis isn't owned by Clark County, but it is still an airport here in the city.

SPEAKER_01 5:01

Private planes can fly into Nellis? No. Okay, I didn't think so. No, you asked how many airports there are. Yeah, okay, yeah, no, you're right, you're right, you're right. That's fair. So you've been so many places. What do you love about living in Las Vegas?

SPEAKER_00 5:13

I say this is the gateway to the West. You know, anybody that wants to do anything on the West Coast I think this is the place to go. No one wants to really live in California anymore, but they want to be close to California. So I'd say this is the closest place to be able to do that. But Vegas, you know, there's no snow here. There's nonstop flights pretty much anywhere. There's entertainment. There's no income tax. There's no flying bugs. I mean, this is like the best place

SPEAKER_01 5:39

on earth. Yeah. Yeah. Is there anything that really stands out about Vegas in your eyes that maybe isn't available elsewhere?

SPEAKER_00 5:48

Well, having dinner after 9 p.m. I can tell you flying to all these little towns and these little places, if you're not there by 8 o'clock on the ground, you're pretty much, you know, maybe you're lucky to get a drive-thru. But there's, you know, the after hours and just the dining and all the restaurants that are available, I think is second to none here in Las Vegas. And then, of course, just, you know, shows and entertainment. We pretty much get every headliner. So

SPEAKER_01 6:17

for all of us complaining that some of the hours of operation of certain restaurants changed after COVID. Yeah. I guess we should think twice and be grateful for it.

SPEAKER_00 6:26

Yeah. Yeah. We're very lucky with what we've got here. We can eat anywhere we want pretty much anytime we want.

SPEAKER_01 6:32

Yeah. Yeah. I love it. Okay. What do you love most about flying?

SPEAKER_00 6:36

The freedom. You don't, like I said before, you don't appreciate how free you are until you get off the ground and you can go anywhere that you want. I mean, there's certain air spaces that you're not allowed to fly into. But, you know, this is a huge country and you can pretty much fly anywhere that the military says that you're not allowed to. So getting close to the scenic, beautiful landscapes that are around the country, being able to fly by places like, you know, Mount Rushmore or fly over the Statue of Liberty or touchdown and, you know, first flight where the Wright brothers flew, like just all these cool places that you're able to go to that you really get access to by being a pilot.

SPEAKER_01 7:17

So I'm curious. What made you become a pilot now? I've got to know.

SPEAKER_00 7:21

I mean, I honestly didn't want to have a desk job is really all that it was. I wanted to not sit in an office. And there's not many jobs that, unless you want to be physical, like construction and stuff like that, I wanted to travel. And really the only way to do that was to be a pilot. Interestingly enough, now I pretty much have a desk job.

SPEAKER_01 7:44

Oh my gosh, isn't that funny?

SPEAKER_00 7:45

But I get to fly, so it's fun. It's just kind of funny how that

SPEAKER_01 7:49

works out. Well, when you own a business, I feel like there's always desk work to be done, right?

SPEAKER_00 7:54

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:54

Is flying around Vegas unique in any way compared to flying around other parts of the country?

SPEAKER_00 8:00

For sure. I mean, every place has their own things that make it unique. I'd say what's unique around Vegas is that we sit in a bowl, right? We have mountains pretty much all around us. So if you're taking off from, say, the North Las Vegas airport and you want to go to LA, there's a whole bunch of mountains and then there's airspace. So it's It's kind of a tricky place to fly in and out of. Once you get used to it, it's no big deal. At Henderson, we always typically go to the east. So you get to see things like the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon. So I'd say those are definitely bucket list items for a lot of pilots. So we get a lot of people from out of town that are like, hey, I would love to go see the Hoover Dam or fly over the Grand Canyon, go to Sedona. And those places are very much within reach here in Las Vegas. I

SPEAKER_01 8:47

was reading one of your Yelp reviews and one of the guys from California was coming here and I think he was in flight school in California but wanted to fly here. His review mentioned something about wind and how it was really challenging. He had never experienced that level of a rush before but it was so great. I have to say our wind in the valley is really bad at times and probably constant even so it's probably a constant thing that you guys are considering. How does that play a role in your school?

SPEAKER_00 9:23

I mean, it certainly plays a role. So everybody wants a perfect day to go fly. They want clear blue skies, no wind. They want it to be excellent. What we do have here in Vegas is pretty much blue skies every day, right? So we definitely can get in the air, but we might get bounced around a little bit if it's a little bit windy. So I would say that it makes better pilots. We do all the training here through pretty much all the wind conditions unless it's extreme, but we really don't stop flying because of the wind until it gets to be a safety concern. So people that learn how to fly here can pretty much go anywhere and be equipped to safely take off and land in any wind conditions. So that's, I think, an advantage.

SPEAKER_01 10:05

I don't know about you, but I'm a mountain biker. Okay. And we say the same thing about mountain biking here in Vegas. If you can mountain bike in Vegas on our terrain here, you can mountain bike anywhere.

SPEAKER_00 10:17

Yeah. Same thing for wind and airplanes.

SPEAKER_01 10:19

Yeah, that's wild. Okay, I love that. We're going to switch it up a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 10:23

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 10:23

This show being the Vegas Strong Revival is really hospitality focused. And the reason you and I even got connected in the first place a while back was you have a certain level of hospitality inside of your own business. Sure. I'm curious, what does the word hospitality actually mean to you?

SPEAKER_00 10:42

I'd say that what it means to me is to deliver an experience to a customer that they weren't expecting. to preempt their expectations and deliver something that they didn't even know that could exist. I think getting ahead of your customer is really what I would say is the definition of hospitality. I don't know if that's what they teach at UNLV, but we want to make sure that we're delivering the best experience that somebody can have. And everybody that leaves here, I shouldn't say everybody, but most people leave and say, man, I've been to flight schools all over the world, and this is the best flight training experience that I've had. So I feel like we're delivering on that expectation, but it takes a lot of work.

SPEAKER_01 11:22

One of the things as I was preparing to have this chat with you was I've never been in the aviation industry. I've never known even what some of the standards would be, especially when it comes to flight training schools, right?

SPEAKER_00 11:38

Well, let me just give you sort of the typical flight school around the country. So the typical flight school is run by a flight instructor that has become known in the community or known at that airport and then eventually they go and buy an airplane and they typically buy like the the cheapest airplane that they they can afford in order to deliver the most inexpensive and you know cheap way for people to learn how to fly so customers pull up in their nice cars to learn how to fly and they look around and they're like this plane is older than i am and there's like duct tape like holding the plane together and the holes in the seats and um that that is the experience that a lot of people have going to flight schools because they're genuinely trying to deliver flight training at the most economical and cheap well I

SPEAKER_01 12:26

can't imagine it is cheap

SPEAKER_00 12:27

it's not

SPEAKER_01 12:28

no

SPEAKER_00 12:28

so we go the other direction

SPEAKER_01 12:30

kind of cut some costs on certain things might help the overall budget but at what cost are you willing to risk your own safety

SPEAKER_00 12:40

sure and I'm not here to suggest that there's any safety concern because these airplanes do have to go through maintenance and they have to be They have to be annually inspected in the FAA. But it's

SPEAKER_01 12:50

the concept, right? You show up and you look at the plane that's older than you are and even has duct tape on it, and the perception in your brain won't change. Correct. That first impression lasts, right? Correct.

SPEAKER_00 13:06

And that's where we're different. So we tell everybody, hey, please tour all the flight schools that you're considering. You'll see the difference. It's very evident. Our planes are well-maintained. They're cleaned. They're hangard. Our facilities are brand new. We have individualized briefing rooms. We make sure that we follow up with customers. That is typically what a lot of people will interact with the flight school is they'll not get a call back from the school after they inquired because the guy that is running the place is also the flight instructor and he's flying all day and then runs out of time. So we have dedicated people just to take care of customer needs and make sure that they're on the ground and they're phone is working and they're ready to meet and give tours and make sure that we're hospitable. I

SPEAKER_01 13:54

think you just answered my very next question. It's like, what sets you apart? As far as the hospitality component, walk me through what a brand new customer experiences, either calling your business to inquire about flight school. And let's just talk about flight school right now. What that process looks like for somebody who is brand new.

SPEAKER_00 14:15

Sure. So the first thing that we encourage everybody to do is to come in and take a tour and then sit down with their flight training advisor. So it seems like this crazy world that is inaccessible, like aviation. So we want to welcome you in and say, hey, let's just walk through the halls. Let's get you in the flight simulator. Let's show you the hangars. Let's show you the airplanes. You have a

SPEAKER_01 14:35

flight simulator? Uh-huh. Oh, that's

SPEAKER_00 14:37

cool. Yeah. So then people go, oh my gosh, this is actually tangible. I can touch it. I can feel it. I can sense it. And then they sit down typically for 30 minutes with the flight training advisor and answer most of the same questions. How much does it cost? How long does it take? Can I borrow money to do it? What are the medical requirements in order to do it? Those are the high-level things.

SPEAKER_01 15:02

Medically? I'm just curious. Are certain people not medically cleared to fly?

SPEAKER_00 15:06

Correct. Oh, okay. Everybody has to go through an FAA medical that the Federal Aviation Administration requires. So it depends on your age. I'm over 40, so I have to go every two years. If you're under 40, it's every five years. You have to prove that you have good eyesight. You can't be diabetic without control. You can't have heart problems. You can't have dependency issues. There's a lot of things that the FAA doesn't want people flying that are not physically fit or mentally fit. I guess if I

SPEAKER_01 15:35

really thought about it, I would have considered that aspect.

SPEAKER_00 15:38

There's a lot of medications that are not allowed by the FAA. So we have that uncomfortable, like, hey, are you on X, Y, and Z? You can't be young. you know, antidepressants and stuff like that. And the FAA really wants to make sure that people that are in the air are healthy.

SPEAKER_01 15:54

Yep. Well, that makes sense.

SPEAKER_00 15:56

So that's the first thing that happens typically.

SPEAKER_01 15:59

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 15:59

And then the second thing that happens is we schedule you on a introductory flight. Okay. Because a lot of people don't know if they're going to like it, right? Is this going to be, am I going to get sick? Am I going to be scared? What's the situation going to be like? And it's with one of our flight instructors. You typically go for an hour flight. You're at the control You get to do a takeoff and you get to fly around. Maybe land depends on your capability, but normally the instructor is going to do the landing. And typically everybody walks away from that and they go, I'm in like, let's do this. Um, it is, it is a, a rush, a sensation that, that you really can't get, you know, anywhere, but maybe a racetrack, right. Or sure. Yeah. You're free to do what you want. Right.

SPEAKER_01 16:40

Have you been out there?

SPEAKER_00 16:41

I have. Yeah. Very fun.

SPEAKER_01 16:43

Good time. Good recognize the value of hospitality. I mean, you've clearly put thought into exceeding your guest expectations, right? That's been a constant theme with you. Why do you think truly that it matters to focus on that level of hospitality for your business?

SPEAKER_00 17:02

I think people are willing to pay for, you know, quality, like is really what it boils down to. So we are more expensive than other schools, but they get the return on that dollar So we have to constantly be delivering it or else we're just like any other flight school and they can go somewhere else that's cheaper. So I think we're always trying to deliver on that value proposition of you're going to pay more, but you're going to get more. And we're going to work hard to prove that we're worth the extra money.

SPEAKER_01 17:34

From a strictly business standpoint, it makes your business more profitable to have higher level hospitality.

SPEAKER_00 17:42

Yes, it costs us more, right? It costs the customer more. But at the end of the day, bigger number are bigger numbers. So we would rather have more people spending a little bit more to get a better experience and then our employees are happier, our customers are happier. It's really a win-win for all.

SPEAKER_01 17:59

There's a new book coming out. It is all about the employee experience. Sure. Employee experience from an HR perspective is kind of a newer concept. And I love that you mentioned that your employees are happier, right? Because when we have happy employees, we end up with happy guests and then we end up with a healthy, happy business. I imagine you don't have a whole lot of turnover if you have happy employees.

SPEAKER_00 18:24

Well, I mean, I wish I could say that, but the aviation world is all about turnover. So it's just part of the business. Yeah, because as soon as flight instructors get a certain number of hours, they're eligible to go to an airline and they're out the door.

SPEAKER_01 18:39

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 18:39

So we want to make sure that we attract the best instructors that we can get while we have them, knowing that it's not necessarily necessarily going to be a long-term you know employment but we get to pick the best of the best because we have a good workplace environment we have nice airplanes we pay better than everybody else so we're we're the employer of choice for the the you know that time that they're yeah they're in that stage of their career

SPEAKER_01 19:03

for sure have you ever flown commercial

SPEAKER_00 19:06

uh no no i was gonna i went to school to do it and then september 11th happened and um it took me on a totally different path here to do this private stuff and i've just never gone back i'm qualified I do it, but I really don't want to be a bus driver when I get to drive around in a high-end airplane. It's kind of fun.

SPEAKER_01 19:25

Let's take a second to help out all of our business owners that listen to this show. Sure. Because in any industry, we have a foundation of hospitality. There's always a transaction of some kind between the business and the consumer. What kind of advice could you give other business owners, specifically here in Las Vegas, on the topic of rolling out the red carpet, because that's something you and I've talked about. You love it when your guests really do feel the red carpet has been rolled out for them. I

SPEAKER_00 19:56

mean, we literally have red carpets. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01 20:00

I need to come and see this

SPEAKER_00 20:01

for myself. It's not just a metaphor. We literally have red carpets at all of our plans for all of our customers. How do I translate that to other businesses? I'd say we could cut that cost, right? You I think don't look for all these cost cutting measures. Look for ways to make your customer feel special. And I think that they'll be willing to spend more money with you. If they feel special, they want to come back. They want to be there. They want to be part of your ecosystem. That's, I think, what any business can do. I like going back to businesses that make me feel special.

SPEAKER_01 20:40

Is there any level, like little touch points that you make sure your trainers are doing like a little thing like even offering water

SPEAKER_00 20:49

right yeah we have a fridge full of water yeah cold waters because it gets hot in the summer months flying in las vegas so yeah we have cold waters for everybody little things i think in the flight training world are like before your flight your flight instructor is going to reach out to you and say hey my name is so and so and we're going to fly tomorrow is there anything that you want to do in particular right it's not just a

SPEAKER_01 21:10

communication

SPEAKER_00 21:11

it's not just a transaction you walk in the door and say hey hop in we're going it's it's really trying trying to understand what the customer wants and deliver on their wants.

SPEAKER_01 21:21

That's awesome. Next question.

SPEAKER_00 21:23

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 21:24

Cost keeps coming up. Sure. Right? Yeah. I know some of our listeners are probably hearing this or seeing it and they're like, oh my gosh, I have been thinking about becoming a pilot. I really want to do it. I should have done it during COVID. I didn't. Sure. Whatever it is. Sure. What, generally speaking, are we looking at here for cost of becoming a pilot through your program?

SPEAKER_00 21:45

Sure. So there's... several layers of being a pilot. If you just want to take your friends flying and go with your family and your associates, that's called a private pilot. So you just get your license and you can rent one of our planes. To do that, we have two different types of planes. We have Cessna planes, which are a little bit more cost-effective. We tell people it's about$18,000 to$20,000. And if you're going to use the Cirrus airplane, which is the main staple of our business, it's a newer, it's air-conditioned, it's a little more high-end airplane, it's going to be about$30,000 to get your private pilot license. Then there's additional ratings. Most of the time people, once they become a pilot, they say, hey, it'd be nice to fly in the clouds. I want to go to LA and there's a marine layer. So if you want to be able to do that, you have to get your instrument rating and that would be another same order of magnitude. So another 18, 20 or 30 grand. So you're decide that this is the career that you want to make, you have to be a commercial pilot. Commercial requires probably another 20 grand in the Cessna, another 30 grand in the Cirrus. And then lastly, I know I keep going, you typically want to become a flight instructor to help accumulate hours and not have to

SPEAKER_01 23:06

pay for the hours.

SPEAKER_00 23:06

And that one's less expensive, 10 grand or something like that, 15 grand. So if you're saying, hey, I want to make a career in aviation, we would tell you, all right, you can do it. You could do it in our Cessnas, probably 75, 80 grand. You could do it in the Cirrus, 110, 120. But remember that as soon as you go to an airline and you start working for an airline, day one pay is like$100,000. No way. And then after five years, you should be making 200 grand. What? So like the return on the investment is like, it's a lot of money to learn how to fly. But it's, you know, you could go to college and spend 100 grand and you're not going to necessarily guarantee the$100,000 job. Absolutely. Absolutely. 100,000 to become a pilot, and then you got a$100,000 job. That's what I'm here to tell you. You could go somewhere else and do it cheaper. And we talked about that we don't do the cheapest, oldest airplanes. Yeah. But that's rough order of magnitude, 100,000 to basically make a career out of being a pilot.

SPEAKER_01 24:05

And I heard your planes have air conditioning.

SPEAKER_00 24:08

The Cirruses do. Oh, okay. Yes. All right. Our Cessnas don't, but the Cirruses do.

SPEAKER_01 24:12

I mean, is that kind of a luxury thing? Oh, yeah. sounded like it when i was researching or hearing it from somebody

SPEAKER_00 24:19

we're the only flight school in town that has air conditioning

SPEAKER_01 24:22

oh my gosh

SPEAKER_00 24:22

yeah

SPEAKER_01 24:23

what about like in the country is it pretty common

SPEAKER_00 24:26

anybody that has serious airplanes has air conditioning but most schools are you know go into the the low cost option and there's not air conditioning in those

SPEAKER_01 24:35

got it you have built a beautiful luxury high-end high service high value flight school but you actually also help people purchase planes.

SPEAKER_00 24:47

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 24:48

So talk to me about that.

SPEAKER_00 24:49

Sure. So that's really been my career. When I worked at Cirrus Aircraft, I was helping deliver brand new airplanes. And then I made a shift to selling used airplanes when the recession came. So I've been doing pre-owned aircraft sales since 2008. And you can rent a plane from us. But a lot of times people say, you know what, I really just want to take my own airplane and go somewhere for 10 days and not worry about, you know, they want the plane back. Yeah. So that's been what I do is I sell airplanes all over the country. And what really prompted the flight school here in Vegas was that I would sell airplanes to people locally and then no one was here to really take care of the customer after the sale.

SPEAKER_01 25:31

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 25:31

Because most of the flight schools did not cater to that customer. So we said, hey, let's start a school that delivers high-end quality training specific to the Cirrus. And we just went out and did it on our own. And it turned into its whole animal of its own. We were just trying to sell more airplanes and now, you know, now we've got a thriving business in flight training. So, but my day job is still selling airplanes.

SPEAKER_01 25:55

That's kind of cool.

SPEAKER_00 25:56

So I'm hoping to close the plane today, actually. Really? Yeah. Okay. Fingers crossed

SPEAKER_01 26:00

for you.

SPEAKER_00 26:00

In Tulsa, Oklahoma. So yeah, hopefully when we're done with this, I'll look at my phone and it'll be a done deal.

SPEAKER_01 26:06

Right on. Yay. Okay. Fingers crossed for that. Being the Vegas Strong Revival podcast, I got to ask, what does Vegas Strong mean to you?

SPEAKER_00 26:15

I think Vegas Strong is where Vegas came together is really what it means to me. Like we lived here since, since 09 and it was a transient, like, you know, nobody was really from here. It didn't seem anyways. And it was very much like a come and go kind of town. And then when Vegas, you know, the tragedy happened and Vegas Strong happened and the hockey team started crushing it. Like we started having a culture and a community of we are Vegas. Like we were proud of it. This is home. This is not a, you You know, what happens here, stays here, sort of like this is, we stay here, right? We stay here, yeah. All the time. So that's what it means to me is where we, I think, identified as an awesome city and community, not just a place to visit, but a place to live.

SPEAKER_01 27:02

Isn't that interesting how the vibes before October 1 still kind of felt very transient? You know, we always have had community and there's different sectors of the valley that are very community driven. driven, I would say, you know, you have your pockets of communities, but I have never seen the entire city, the entire valley come together as one big pocket prior to October 1. So I love hearing your thoughts on that. As far as the revival component, how do you think that the city is doing in regards to holding on to that citywide community concept?

SPEAKER_00 27:42

Um, I think we're trying to be everything to everyone, right? Like we're trying trying to be baseball and basketball and hockey, and we're trying to do it all. And we're doing a pretty good job, but I think that maybe we're a little distracted from being back to the city that we all were so close back in 2018. So I'm not a naysayer by any means, but I think we can get back to how we were much more of a close-knit community in 2018 and you know but i i still love this city so i don't want to take it no no we don't

SPEAKER_01 28:20

ever bash on vegas right like we of course have complaints and certain things and we i mean we're a city a very complex city very large city and with those things comes issues we have our own set of issues but we always like the people who live here everybody loves vegas we all have this certain level of pride for vegas so it's not bashing vegas it's just simply saying hey we're We're a big city, we're complex, we've got issues, but we still love it. And hey, let's continue to make it better. So that's definitely where my heart is at. I would say that the revival component is really gonna come from people like you. All the people I talk to on a regular basis to say, hey, remember when? Remember when we all just loved and supported each other? Do you remember any of the little things that happened after the shooting that made you say, my gosh this is so awesome that our community is doing or like this interaction

SPEAKER_00 29:20

I had with somebody okay tell me yeah I'm from Canada right so like hockey was huge and it just seemed like nobody in town knew what hockey was and then once September 1st happened or October 1st happened and oh my gosh everybody's like an expert in hockey and they don't even know what offsides is like it was it was really kind of funny for me that was the big thing it's like to to get the the city to be behind hockey was was so exciting. And now kids play hockey in leagues and they're going gangbusters. There's now, what, three new hockey rinks in town, soon to be a fourth new rink in town. So sorry to go sports on you, but that's really my takeaway. But it's true. The

SPEAKER_01 30:01

Golden Knights made this city come together in a positive way. Maybe that's not even the right word, but it gave the city a positive focus

SPEAKER_00 30:12

rather than the... Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:17

And that brought a whole level of community in addition to the Vegas Strong messaging that was happening at the time. We had Go Knights Go. So your perspective is spot on.

SPEAKER_00 30:28

Is

SPEAKER_01 30:29

there anything else you'd like to add while you're here? No, I

SPEAKER_00 30:32

think Vegas has the we can do it attitude, right? We can do anything. And I do really love that about this city is we go out and we set our sights on something and we try to crush it and we tip typically do a pretty good job of it. So best city in the world.

SPEAKER_01 30:48

Amen to that. Paul, thank you so much for being here.

SPEAKER_00 30:51

Thank you for having me. If

SPEAKER_01 30:52

you have any last words for any of our listeners as far as aviation, your love of the city, anything at all, feel free to

SPEAKER_00 31:00

speak your piece. I mean, I would just say, like I said, the first step is to set up a tour. So come visit us at the Henderson Executive Airport. We do tours all the time. Sit down in a plane so you can really get a sense of like what we do and maybe it'll light a fire and get you on a, an aviation journey you didn't know that you even wanted to start so

SPEAKER_01 31:18

absolutely so what's the best way for people to contact you

SPEAKER_00 31:22

yeah get a hold of us our flight training advisor you'll find all the information on all in aviation.com schedule a tour that's that is all

SPEAKER_01 31:29

in aviation.com a l l i n aviation.com phone number and website i will list in the show notes as well

SPEAKER_00 31:39

702 all in 22 is our phone number so that's easy yeah

SPEAKER_01 31:43

fun

SPEAKER_00 31:44

we fly sr 22 The Cirrus, that's the model. So

SPEAKER_01 31:47

you got the 22.

SPEAKER_00 31:48

Yeah, all in 22. And that's my jersey. Anytime that you see all in 22 on the back of a Golden Knights jersey, it's me. Now I'm going to know.

SPEAKER_01 31:57

I don't even want to know how much you paid for that phone number.

SPEAKER_00 32:00

It was available. Yeah, it actually worked out.

SPEAKER_01 32:02

You can't even get 702 numbers anymore without paying for them. Did you know that? Speaking of our wild city. Paul, you're amazing. I can't wait to come check out your facility. And until next time.

SPEAKER_00 32:13

Go all in.

SPEAKER_01 32:14

And that's a wrap. on this episode of the Vegas Strong Revival Podcast. I hope you found our discussion engaging and even thought-provoking. A big shout-out to all of our amazing listeners for tuning in and supporting the show because it truly means the world to us, so thank you. Let's keep the Vegas Strong spirit alive. Share this podcast with your friends, family, colleagues, and just anyone who loves Vegas. If you have ideas, suggestions, or want to be a guest on the show, simply reach out online or feel free to text us on our super cool podcast hotline, 702-7255. And of course, don't forget to subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode. Let's keep pushing the boundaries and reviving our city's passion for authentic service together. Stay strong, Vegas.