One Airplane, Open Around the Clock in Griffin
A Griffin school that flies any hour by appointment, holidays included. After a frustrating stretch with its old software, scheduling now runs from a phone.
FlyBoys Flight Centers in Griffin, Georgia keeps hours most flight schools don't: 24/7 by appointment, including most holidays. Students fly when their lives allow it. A schedule that open can't live on a desk. FlyBoys switched to Sky Schedule after a frustrating run with its previous software, and now runs the schedule from a phone.
A wide program from a focused operation
The founder started learning to fly in 2001, was hooked quickly, and opened FlyBoys a few years later to bring together two things he cared about: teaching and flying. He holds commercial, instrument, and multi-engine privileges, and teaches as a CFI, CFII, MEI, and advanced ground instructor.
The school flies a four-seat, 160-horsepower Piper PA-28, which is also available to rent. From that base, FlyBoys covers a lot of ground: Sport Pilot, Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, Multi-Engine Rating, Commercial Pilot, ground instructor certificates, CFI and CFII, plus flight reviews and instrument proficiency checks. A Private Pilot ground school meets Monday evenings at the FlyBoys office in Griffin and on Zoom for anyone who can't make it in person.
The approach is personal. Lessons are built around each student's goals, whether that's flying for fun, for business, or toward an airline career, with an emphasis on producing pilots who are competent, safe, and relaxed.
When the software takes more time than it saves
For a lean operation, scheduling software has one job: take work off the instructor's plate. FlyBoys' previous software didn't do that well, and the frustration was a big part of the decision to move. When the person teaching the lesson is also the person managing the calendar, every extra step in the software comes out of flying time.
The move itself had to happen without canceling lessons. More on how switching works.
Running it from the ramp
Booking at any hour
Students book through Sky Schedule on the web or in the Sky Schedule app for iPhone and iPad. If a student wants a lesson but is flexible on the time, a Find a Time request goes to the school for approval instead of turning into a round of calls and texts. Reminder emails go out before each reservation, and change and cancel emails go out automatically when plans shift.
The instructor's calendar, kept in sync
Google Calendar sync puts lessons on the instructor's own calendar, and any reservation can be exported to Apple or Outlook. With a 24/7 schedule, the lesson at 6 a.m. on a holiday shows up in the same place as everything else.
Closing out the flight on the spot
On the ramp, the app handles check-out and completing the flight with Hobbs and Tach readings, which update the airplane's times. If something needs attention, a squawk goes in from the phone, and if it grounds the PA-28, the scheduling calendar shows it to anyone looking to book, and the flight stays no-go on the dispatch report until the work order is done.
What the switch gave back
Lessons get booked, confirmed, and closed out without a stack of messages in between. The schedule lives on a phone instead of a computer back at the office, which suits a school that's open whenever a student can fly. Hours on the airplane stay current because they're entered when the flight ends.
Personal attention to each student is what FlyBoys sells. Sky Schedule keeps the scheduling from competing with it.
