Become a Pilot in Saratoga: Hewison Aviation Opens Up Shop at County Airport

BALLSTON SPA — Anyone can become a pilot. 

This is the mantra, of sorts, for Hewison Aviation, a company that offers flight lessons and recently expanded its services to the beautified Saratoga County Airport.  

“The general, typical, day-to-day person—they don’t know that they can become a pilot,” said Maura Hewison, the aviation company’s operations manager. “Unless you have an uncle or a neighbor or someone who is a pilot, it’s not on your radar. You don’t know how to do that.”

Hewison’s staff of instructors can teach just about anyone how to pilot an airplane. Their teachers have anywhere from 500 to thousands of hours of flight time experience, a qualification that Hewison says sets them apart from competitors. In addition to the nuts and bolts of manning an aircraft, these instructors also emphasize a “disciplined attitude toward aviation” that aims to keep pilots well-trained and passengers at ease.

“What you’re doing in flight training is you’re learning how to stay calm in the event of an emergency,” Maura said. “It’s called aviate, navigate, and communicate. That means fly the plane, figure out where you’re going to land, and talk to whoever you have to talk to… It teaches you how to stay calm and how to focus instead of everyone freaking out.”

Hewison is interested in teaching these lessons not just to hobbyists but also to the next generation of pilots. The company hopes to get more high school students involved in flight lessons, perhaps via a Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) program.

“These are going to be the people that are flying you and your family around for the next 30 to 50 years,” Maura said.

Hewison’s mission to share a love of the skies with young and old pilots alike stretches back to the company’s founder, Chris, watching his father and uncle soar through the heavens. Chris’ father was a private pilot and his uncle was a fighter pilot in the Korean war. When Chris created his flight school 11 years ago, his first plane was purchased from his father. Since then, the company has grown slowly but surely, expanding but attempting not to expand too rapidly. In New York State, Hewison now operates out of the Griffiss Airport in Rome, where they have about 30 students per year; the South Albany Airport, where they tally around 60 students per year; and, as of January 2025, the Saratoga County Airport.

The company offers a wide range of courses, from introductory “discovery flights” to commercial pilot licenses. To learn more, visit hewisonaviation.com.