ABOUT 10 YEARS AGO, three Taos teenagers tragically jumped from the Río Grande Gorge Bridge over the course of just a few weeks. While youth suicide in Taos is all too common, the deaths left Michael McCann particularly distraught.
“I was angry—like really angry,” says McCann, a commercial airline pilot whose son attended high school with the teens. “I couldn’t understand how things could possibly remain the same with so many young people dying, and I couldn’t see that anyone was doing anything about it.”
A few months later, McCann received a call from a high school counselor. She was worried about McCann’s son and his mental health.
“I was in Shanghai on an overnight flight and realized my priorities had suddenly shifted,” McCann says. He took an extended break from work and dove deep into his role in the world and how he could make a difference. “The message was very simple: Give back,” he recalls.
McCann mortgaged his home, drained his savings, and purchased several small airplanes. For him, giving back meant utilizing his knowledge, skills, and experience as a pilot to work for the community’s youth.
In 2016, McCann established Fly Taos Sky, a not-for-profit tour operator and flight school based out of the tiny regional airport just west of town. Over the years, he has helped dozens of students by teaching them the ins and outs of flying, obtaining a pilot’s license, and even finding jobs in the industry. It’s also a STEM program, where students learn math, physics, meteorology, and problem-solving skills.
It costs $12,000 for a basic pilot’s license and $60,000 for the full course, but McCann covers the cost for serious students through donations and sponsorships.
“The goal is to give these kids a purpose in life, a drive, and somewhere to focus their energy instead of on all the problems in their lives,” he says. “We’re giving them the world.”
It costs about $12,000 to obtain a basic pilot’s license and $60,000 to complete the whole course. But if the young pilot is serious, McCann defrays or covers the cost entirely through donations, fundraisers, and sponsorships. “We find a way to make it happen,” he says.
Several graduates are making a living flying commercially, piloting for emergency services, and showing tourists the Enchanted Circle.
“I wouldn’t be where I’m at without Michael and Fly Taos Sky,” says Jessica Caskey, a cargo pilot currently based in Alaska who earned her commercial and instructor pilot ratings with Fly Taos Sky. “Michael creates opportunities.”
The idea of giving back remains at the core of McCann’s work. Recently, a prospective student chose to get sober to join the pilot program. Another young woman, homeless and living in her truck, also passed through the program and is now well on her way to a stable job.
“At least four graduates from our program came back to tell me that learning to fly literally saved their lives,” he says.
Like many small enterprises, McCann’s flight school scrambles to raise money but will continue its work despite the challenges. “At the end of the day, how will you judge your life?” he says.
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