Pilot to Pilot

Pilot to Pilot Magazine — Volume 002 is out now. Get yours at pilottopilothq.com/mag
Sponsors — please support the people who support the show: • Avemco Insurance — Save 5% as a Pilot to Pilot listener. Call (888) 635-4297 or visit avemco.com/4297-owner (owners) or avemco.com/4297-non-owner (non-owners) • Textron Aviation — Built for lifelong aviators. Plan your next chapter at txtav.com/stepup • Garmin — Plan, file, fly, log with the Garmin Pilot app • Allworth Airline Advisors — Register for their latest webinar at allworthfinancial.com/justin • Learn the Finer Points — Save 10% off your first year at learnthefinerpoints.com/justin. https://allworthfinancial.com/airlines/lp/runway-for-retirement-webinar?utm_campaign=airlines+-+more+runway+for+retirement?lmls=Partner+Channel&lmld=Pilot+to+Pilot&ad_version=Social
Canadian pilot Mike Andrews has never taken the direct route — and that's exactly what makes his story worth hearing. Growing up in Southern Ontario, Mike got his start through Canada's Air Cadet program, earning a glider license at 16 and a private pilot license at 17 before nearly going the Canadian Armed Forces fighter pilot route. A heart murmur medical delay, a backpacking trip to New Zealand, and a hard reset later, he found himself building a flight school from scratch on Vancouver Island with one airplane and a jacket that said "ask me about flying."
Now based on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Mike is one of Canada's leading instructors on the Pipistrel Velis Electro — the country's first electric aircraft approved for primary flight training — and he's about to embark on a brand new chapter as a bird dog pilot doing aerial wildfire fighting in BC's rugged mountain terrain.
In this episode, Justin and Mike dig into the Canadian pilot training system, what it's actually like to fly and teach in an electric airplane, the unique aviation culture of the Pacific Northwest coast, and what draws a variety-hungry pilot to a career where low-level mountain flying meets public service. Plus — Mike shares what it was like to nearly make it into Canadian fighter pilot selection before a three-day paperwork deadline changed everything.

Topics Covered:
Canada's Air Cadet program and glider scholarships
Canadian vs. American pilot training and instructor rating systems
Flying the Pipistrel Velis Electro — Canada's first electric flight trainer
Electric aviation: where it works today and where it's headed
Aerial wildfire fighting and the bird dog role
Building a sub-base flight school on Vancouver Island from the ground up
The TBM 960's "Home Safe" emergency automation features
Why variety — not the airlines — has driven Mike's entire career

Pilot to Pilot Magazine — Volume 002 is out now. Get yours at pilottopilothq.com/mag
Sponsors — please support the people who support the show: • Avemco Insurance — Save 5% as a Pilot to Pilot listener. Call (888) 635-4297 or visit avemco.com/4297-owner (owners) or avemco.com/4297-non-owner (non-owners) • Textron Aviation — Built for lifelong aviators. Plan your next chapter at txtav.com/stepup • Garmin — Plan, file, fly, log with the Garmin Pilot app • Allworth Airline Advisors — Register for their latest webinar at allworthfinancial.com/justin • Learn the Finer Points — Save 10% off your first year at learnthefinerpoints.com/justin. https://allworthfinancial.com/airlines/lp/runway-for-retirement-webinar?utm_campaign=airlines+-+more+runway+for+retirement?lmls=Partner+Channel&lmld=Pilot+to+Pilot&ad_version=Social
Marci Veronie is the Senior Vice President of AVEMCO Insurance, and she's one of the most fascinating people in aviation — not because she's a pilot, but because she's spent nearly four decades watching what happens when things go wrong. Landings. Taxiing. Overconfident airline pilots in light sport aircraft. She's seen it all, and she's got the data to back it up.
In this episode, Marci opens up about her wildly unexpected path from a Pittsburgh girl chasing a paralegal certificate to becoming the first non-pilot sales underwriter at AVEMCO — and eventually SVP. She talks about the calls she dreads taking on Monday mornings, what separates a superior pilot from a scary one, and why 60% of pilots are leaving real money on the table every single year.
She also gets candid about being a woman in a male-dominated industry for decades, her work with Women in Aviation International, and what it actually takes to build a 39-year career at one company.
Whether you fly a J-3 Cub or a 737, this episode will change how you think about risk, training, and what it means to truly be a safe pilot.\
Happy Flying,
Justin

Spirit Airlines officially ceased operations on May 2 at 3am, and in this episode Justin sits down with Jim Higgins, Professor of Aviation at the University of North Dakota, to unpack what happened and what comes next.
They dig into the chain of events that brought one of the country's most recognizable low-cost carriers to a halt — from a business model under pressure, to two Chapter 11 reorganizations, to the spike in oil prices that finally pushed Spirit past the point of recovery. Jim breaks down why the federal bailout package fell apart, why no other airline stepped in to acquire Spirit despite multiple asks, and how $9 billion in debt made a merger virtually impossible.
The conversation also turns to the roughly 2,000 Spirit pilots now entering an already active hiring market. Justin and Jim talk through how the majors are likely to respond, what this means for regional pilots and pilots holding CJOs, and why Spirit aviators have a strong reputation among hiring departments across the industry. They also cover the resources available through ALPA, the importance of leaning on the aviation community, and the often-overlooked mental health side of losing a job you loved.
Whether you're a Spirit pilot, a regional pilot watching the hiring landscape shift, or simply someone trying to make sense of what just happened to a 34-year-old airline with an impeccable safety record, this episode offers context, perspective, and a reminder that the industry takes care of its own.
If you know a Spirit pilot, reach out. A letter of recommendation, a connection, or just a conversation can go a long way.

🎙️ Pilot to Pilot Magazine — Volume 002 is out now. Get yours at pilottopilothq.com/mag
Sponsors — please support the people who support the show: • Avemco Insurance — Save 5% as a Pilot to Pilot listener. Call (888) 635-4297 or visit avemco.com/4297-owner (owners) or avemco.com/4297-non-owner (non-owners) • Textron Aviation — Built for lifelong aviators. Plan your next chapter at txtav.com/stepup • Garmin — Plan, file, fly, log with the Garmin Pilot app • Allworth Airline Advisors — Register for their latest webinar at allworthfinancial.com/justin • Learn the Finer Points — Save 10% off your first year at learnthefinerpoints.com/justin 

State of the Industry!
Spirit's on the brink, Scott Kirby is publicly floating a United–American merger, and the entire airline industry feels like it's holding its breath. Welcome to silly season.
Jim Higgins, professor of aviation at the University of North Dakota and former MEC chair, returns to the Pilot to Pilot Podcast to break down everything happening across the majors right now — and what could happen next.
In this episode, Justin and Jim dig into:
• Where pilot hiring actually stands in 2026 (and the FAPA numbers that tell the real story) • What verbiage in earnings calls and press releases signals trouble before furloughs hit • Fuel prices, the Strait of Hormuz, and how a war on the other side of the world hits your paycheck • The Spirit situation and what bankruptcy vs. liquidation would actually mean • The United–JetBlue rumors — and whether "merging with American" was a smokescreen • Seniority list integration, ALPA merger protocols, and why Southwest hired an M&A law firm • What Delta, Alaska, and Southwest would HAVE to do if a United mega-merger goes through • The Allegiant–Sun Country deal nobody's talking about • Could Delta go international by buying foreign carriers outright?

Drop a comment with YOUR merger prediction. We'll be wrong together.

NEW SPONSOR ALERT!! Truly honored to have Avemco as new sponsor for the podcast. save 5% on your aircraft insurance by with Avemco. Call  (888) 635-4297 or visit www.avemco.com/4297-owner - www.avemco.com/4297-nonowner!
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This is one of the most raw, honest, and inspiring aviation stories you'll ever hear. Evan Davis didn't take a traditional path to becoming an Alaska pilot—he fought through addiction, FAA scrutiny, and personal demons to get there. His story proves that your past doesn't define your future, and that the aviation community has room for second chances when you're willing to do the hard work. Evan Davis was eight hours into his flight training when his AME asked the question that changed everything: have you ever struggled with alcohol? He told the truth — and the FAA grounded him before he ever soloed. More than a decade later, Evan is a PC-12 medevac captain based in Wasilla, Alaska, flying out of Kotzebue two weeks a month, north of the Arctic Circle. In this conversation, he walks Justin through the whole arc: getting honest on his medical application, a Valentine's Day slip two months into sobriety, the HIMS program, and the year of breathalyzers, AA meetings, and flight simulator hours that rebuilt his life. From there, it's the flying story pilots come here for — a 90-hour trip into the Frank Church, a Cessna 182 used to commute to work, a chance resume drop in Homer that turned into a job offer, and eventually Bettles, the Brooks Range, and medevac work on the western coast of Alaska. Evan talks honestly about the weather that moves differently above the Arctic Circle, why saying "no" is the most important skill in the cockpit, what four months of darkness does to you, and why the pilots who make it in Alaska are almost always the ones who can live with other humans in a village for two weeks at a stretch. A story about addiction, second chances, and what it actually takes to fly in one of the last wild places left.
Happy Flying, 
Justin