A Father’s Flight Path Paves the Way

The story of a son who took a familial passion for aviation to new heights

WORDS BY ERIN SLOBODIAN PHOTOGRAPHY BY TATYANA SEMENOVA

When Michael Stimac was a small boy his father became a pilot. Little did either one know the impact this would have on Stimac’s entire life. Stimac — now grown with a family of his own, is a pilot, an aircraft owner, a charter flight broker, and the developer of an air travel ride-sharing app.

The app is called JETPASS and it links luxury-loving travelers with private jet owners who have available seats on scheduled flights. Travelers who subscribe to JETPASS are able to

reserve two seats on an unlimited number of

empty-leg flights for the cost of a single annual membership.

An article in The Economist says the airline industry will lose 50% of its $1.3trn forecasted revenue in 2020 due to pandemic travel restrictions and passenger fear of COVID-19 infection. Stimac says chartered flights via Attune Aviation have seen more interest since the pandemic began and he expects interest to continue to increase. He explained that charter passengers feel safer flying private because they are not exposed to the crowds and line ups at public airports. Attune Aviation partners with companies like Lonach Global Charter to offer luxury flights for corporate travelers and for vacation seekers.

Stimac’s personal aircraft is a Warrior II, part of the Cherokee family of two and four-seat light aircraft designed for flight training and personal use by Piper Aircraft. A piston-powered single engine light plane and it’s owner shopped all over Canada and the US until finally, he found it. “I wanted to buy an airplane my whole life.”

Stimac’s passion is evident in the way he talks about his business, his wife and two daughters, his airplane and flying. “The thing I love about flying is that you’re totally present. There is nothing else that you’re thinking about, not work, no problems, you’re just totally present. It’s a form of therapy,” he said.

Stimac’s love of aviation started at five years-old, the same year his father earned his pilot’s license. Stimac recalls how he used to sneak into his father’s office to devour the aviation library when one day his dad caught him and tested his knowledge with questions on planes and the theory of flying. The younger Stimac answered the questions with ease, “I think he was impressed because he came back with a whole schwack of books for me to study,” Stimac laughed. He started his pilot training as a teenager but Stimac took some years off to attend University and to build other areas of his life. It wasn’t until he was 40 years-old that he finished his training to earn his license — the same age his father was when he became a pilot. “It would be a dream to take my dad flying. Unfortunately he had a stroke 10 years ago, a pretty debilitating one, so I wouldn’t be able to take him up. I’m sure he would have loved it,” Stimac said with a nostalgic smile. www.attuneaviation.ca