Horizons Online Edition

Issue date: 10/1/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Ben Wilking SKYschool, located at Ernest A. Love Field in Prescott, has closed.

As of Sep. 30, Dan Lawler's SKYschool ceased all of its flight activities and closed its doors for the last time.

While never the largest flight operation at Love Field, SKYschool at their largest in 2003 consisted of eleven aircraft. It was a major alternative or addition for many of the beginning pilots in the Prescott area.

Unfortunately for the uninitiated pilots of Prescott and the greater Yavapai area, the establishment that has been a known and accredited training institution for roughly eight years came to a final halt on Sep. 30.

Dan Lawler, an experienced businessman and pilot, has been working in the aviation industry for many years with several companies to his creditAir Grand Canyon and Prescott Air Repair being two of his most recent business ventures. Air Grand Canyon, a tour company that offered aerial tours of the Grand Canyon, was sold at a considerable profit more than one and a half years prior and Prescott Air Repair was lost to Lawler six months ago.

Many questions arise as a result of the closure of one of the pillars of flight training in Prescott, the most paramount simply "Why?" The answer is mostly a simple case of greed; Lawler's ventures all fell victim to an ambitious case of embezzlement, rendering all of the profits and gains made by any to be utterly useless.

The true turning point Lawler faced was six months ago when faced with the ramifications of the embezzlement: he had to decide which of his two remaining investments, SKYschool and Prescott Air Repair, was to be kept, because both could not be sustained in their current states, stripped of profit and in an economic downturn. He chose Prescott Air Repair because of a lack of business. Lawler also admitted to keeping SKYschool running mostly as a result of his passion for his students and for teaching the art of flight.

Another reason for SKYschool's early departure from the world of aviation and the world as a whole more important than even the embezzlement is the economic privation faced by the nation, SKYschool included.

The act of flight, while tantalizing to most individuals, is viewed by many simply as a luxury, as much as those at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and the professional aviation industry at large might disagree. This public understanding of aviation as an extravagance translates into only the most expendable of income being invested into flight. Consequently, when people no longer have any disposable income, they no longer choose to fly.

SKYschool, while reduced prior to its closing to a mere fifth of its previous number of students, credits much of its returning business to the responsible and well-trained crew of instructors and fleet of up-to-date and well-maintained aircraft.

Lawler remarked that he was saddened by the school's closing because of his love for teaching and flying in small aircraft. He went on to say that at this point he is not sure if retirement from the aviation business is right for him.

Lawler and his associates at SKYschool can still be reached at [http://www.skyschoolinc.com] and their physical location is still at Prescott's Ernest A. Love Field at 6418 MacCurdy Drive, Prescott, Arizona, for a limited time.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools