April 2015
| Business World
215
aviators. Whether its technological innova-
tions such as the Redbird Flight Simulator to
the glass G1000 cockpit, a computer-based
style visual display, Kovachik’s dedication to
the group prepares them for real-life in the
cockpit and in the air.
“The large percentage of aircrafts that we’re
flying out there aren’t this new style glass
cockpit so when a student goes and learns
they should really learn on these old school
aircrafts first because more than likely they’ll
be moving into something that’s the older
generation style cockpit,” he said.
“At any given time we have 200 students and
all 200 of these students have my personal
cell phone and they can call me at any time,”
Kovachik continued. “I’ll bring them out to
the airport and we’ll have a coffee and talk
about what went wrong and why they’re mad
and we’ll figure it out and we’ll fix it.”
THE NEXT FRONTIER
Achieving a heightened sense of apprecia-
tion for aviation has been a life-long jour-
ney for Kovachik and his family as a whole.
Blessed with an entrepreneurial spirit des-
tined to follow in the footsteps of his father
and grandfather, Chris continues to invest
internally and do things on his own.
“Reality is, you go to any flight school and
the prices are going to be the same,” he said.
“We realize that it’s expensive, but there’s
nothing that we can do about that cause our
margins are so small. One thing we can do
is offer great customer service. Most other
schools make their students wear ties and
be very professional. We’re more relaxed –
we let our students wear jeans and running
shoes and golf shirts and that’s how we run
things.”
Surrounded by airplanes and the freedom of
flight, Spectrum Airways – and to a greater
extent ¬– Kovachik himself hopes to carry
on the legacy that’s been entrenched within
him most of his life. Looking ahead though,
he understands that taking the controls isn’t
something for everyone.
“I feel like if you want to learn how to fly
you’re not just going to wake up one day and
say ‘hey, I want to learn to fly’,” he said. “The
majority of the customers you talk to they’ve
always wanted to learn to fly. It’s always been
in them, so they’ll find you. You just have to
make sure that you’re ready for them.”
