Why we built SKYLOQ

The aviation industry is entering a period of sustained pilot demand, driven by the rebound in global air travel and rising retirements. In the United States alone, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects about 18,200 new airline and commercial pilot openings annually, with overall employment growth of 4% from 2024 to 2034.

But the path to becoming a pilot is time-consuming and costly. Pilots reaching their first major certificate, the PPL, often log nearly double the FAA's minimum hour requirement — adding time and unexpected costs. That pattern repeats throughout a pilot's journey, and closing that gap is what SKYLOQ is built to do.

I grew up around the aviation industry. My parents both served in the USAF, and my father went on to fly commercially, recently retiring as a 787 Captain at United Airlines. Aviation has always been a passion of mine, but my career went a different direction — building digital products and strategy at Boeing, then pilot-facing products at Jeppesen, then on to flight operations and AI product development at Amazon. Across those roles, I kept seeing the same opportunity: to bring the AI and product-development skills I'd learned to the industry I grew up in. That's where SKYLOQ began.

Pilots lose time and money to a system that wasn't designed for them. Knowledge decays between lessons. Progress lives in a CFI's notebook. The tools you actually need are scattered across apps. So pilots retake exams they could have passed, log CFI hours they didn't need, and lose time planning next steps.

SKYLOQ is one platform that actively manages your journey — your hours, your certifications, your goals, your network, and a personalized AI assistant that can help you reach your goals faster.

Whether you're flying today or thinking about your first flight, I'd love to hear from you. Sign up at skyloq.app, share your feedback, and tell another pilot. We're building this to help you on your journey.