Training, Rentals, and Managed Aircraft on One Modesto Schedule

L&J Aviation is three businesses sharing one ramp in Modesto, California: a flight school, a dry-lease rental operation, and an aircraft management company. With 5 aircraft and that many kinds of flying competing for them, the Modesto flight school needed one calendar every side of the business could trust. It moved to Sky Schedule from its previous software, and the team has been happy with how that went, including the support along the way.

Three businesses, one ramp

The training side is what most people see first. L&J offers discovery flights and takes students through the Private Pilot certificate, the Instrument Rating, and the Commercial certificate with FAA-certified instructors. The school describes its training as built around an interest in each student's well-being, and it invites prospective students in to talk before they commit.

The rental side runs on clear rules. Aircraft are available for dry lease only. To rent, a pilot shows a pilot certificate, photo ID, and a current medical, and completes a check-out flight with one of L&J's CFIs.

The management side is for owners. L&J offers aircraft management that covers flight planning, maintenance coordination, crew oversight, and monthly statements with audited aircraft costs, so an owner gets the airplane without the daily work of running it.

Making the switch

Every one of those businesses pulls on the same airplanes. A student's lesson, a renter's weekend trip, and an owner's own flight all want the same block of time. A rental needs its paperwork confirmed before the airplane leaves. A managed aircraft needs its maintenance tracked for the person who owns it.

L&J came to Sky Schedule from another scheduling system. Price mattered, as it does at any school with a fleet this size. So did the move itself: the Sky Schedule team worked with L&J through the switch, and the school has had responsive support since.

One calendar for all three

Lessons and discovery flights

Instructor and aircraft reservations sit on the same schedule, with overlap and conflict detection. If a renter already has an airplane for the afternoon, a lesson can't land on top of it by accident. The clash is caught at booking, well before anyone reaches the hangar door.

Rentals with the paperwork attached

L&J's rental rules are the kind Sky Schedule can check on its own. A renter missing a document or endorsement is flagged in the booking form, and the dispatch report lists the gap again before the flight. Medicals are tracked with their expiration dates, and admins can verify documents or upload them on a pilot's behalf. That way the rules on the rental page are checked by the software rather than from memory.

Maintenance an owner can count on

Each aircraft carries its squawks, work orders, and inspections with due dates. If a squawk grounds an owner's airplane, it's marked for everyone booking it, and the dispatch report stays at no-go until the work order is closed. When a flight is completed, Hobbs and tach readings update the aircraft's times, so inspection timing is based on real numbers. For a company that manages other people's airplanes, that's the record an owner expects to exist.

Off the desk and onto the phone

A small team can't sit at a desktop all day. In the iPhone and iPad app, L&J's instructors and pilots see the schedule, send Find a Time requests, check out and complete flights, upload documents like medicals, and write up squawks from the ramp. Changes happen where the airplanes are.

L&J's three businesses share 5 aircraft, one schedule, one set of aircraft records, and one app, at a price that made sense for a school of its size.