Having grown up in the aviation world and now working in the business for nearly 20 years, I have experienced a lot and continue to learn new things about our ever-evolving industry.  That’s why I’ve decided to start a blog so I can share my experiences and knowledge with my colleagues and the rest of the aviation community I love so much. 

I was blessed to grow up alongside my mentor, who just also happens to be my father, Mike Delk.  He instilled my passion for aviation beginning with learning how to fly when I was in high school to working at over 70 plus FBOs throughout the US and abroad and then giving me the support to start up our company nearly 10 years ago. 

Paragon Aviation Group would not exist today if it was not for Mike’s leadership, business skills and industry expertise.  It is because of him, that I have the pleasure of working with over 70 of the world’s finest FBOs and their teams collaborating to help find solutions to today’s concerns and promote each other in a positive way.

I am crazy about customer service and a huge believer that you get what you pay for, so I’m not in favor of being solely price-focused.  It is definitely a factor, but you can’t expect the best service and pay the lowest prices.  The ultimate goal is to make sure that it is a win-win partnership.  Every stakeholder in the equation needs to benefit from the partnership. 

I saw something recently that said, “Cheap, Fast, Good…you can only pick two.” So true!  In our industry, people pay high dollars to fly privately for great service (good) as efficiently as possible (fast).  I’m sitting on a SWA flight as I write this.  I chose this option to fly from Texas to Oregon because it was inexpensive and good (considering commercial travel).  Although it is faster than driving, my 4.5 hours of flight time will take me 12+ hours of travel.  Factors include my drive to the airport, checking bags, going through security, the first leg of the flight, a layover, the second leg of the flight, then I get to wait to pick up luggage so I can head over to pick up my rental car (which I get to wait for) so I can drive another 1+ hours to my final destination (even though there is a GA airport five minutes away from that location). So, the “fast” piece in my humble opinion is definitely removed from the equation.

One cannot fly privately for the same cost as flying commercially.  People want to fly privately for the convenience, speed, and safety now more than ever.  With these higher expectations, they know they are going to pay more to do that.  This holds true for most everything we do in life.

My hope is that this blog will address some of the issues our industry is facing and help to provide suggestions and solutions so we can navigate through this crazy time and come out of it on the other side even stronger together.  The deep pool of resources and contacts we have developed, along with our commitment and continued effort to grow these partnerships, afford us the platform to truly help our friends and colleagues save the time it takes to find good partners you can trust.  Without these strong leaders in their field, who have been careful vetted by a diverse group of aviation professionals, it would be incredibly difficult to provide the fantastic service that our customers should and do expect. 

I look forward to sharing some insights and introducing our Strategic Partners’ valuable services and quality products to see how they can provide efficient and reliable solutions for our industry.