Summary
- No refunds are being distributed for a closing flight school’s deposits.
- Many enrolled students are to be left without training or money.
- The school owner recently filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection.
On August 1, a flight school based in Northern Virginia closed its doors and filed for bankruptcy shortly after. The school, American Aviation Flight School, allegedly closed due to its large business debt, which totaled between $10 million and $50 million, per the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA). However, students who were enrolled in the flight school were allegedly directed that they would not be receiving refunds for previously submitted deposits.
No refunds available
After the school shut down in early August, many students who were currently enrolled in flight school or training were allegedly told that they would not be receiving any refunds for their flight school deposits. One of the enrolled students, Thida Aung, told AOPA that she had submitted her life savings, approximately $100,000, upfront to pay for the totality of her flight training program. Aung selected American Aviation Flight School as her primary choice for flight school due to its location at Manassas Regional Airport (MNZ), which was near her residence.
The program Aung selected was called the “Career Pilot Package” and allowed the student to train to be an airline pilot. This included 250 hours towards an airplane pilot career and also offered an “all-inclusive VIP with 30-hour job guarantee as a CFI upon completion”, per AOPA. Beyond her initial $100,000 deposit for flight training, Aung allegedly also provided a $50,000 loan to the school to help finance another new aircraft. The ownership of the school gave Aung a written promise to repay her for that specific loan.
Photo: EML | Shutterstock
However, Aung was told by the flight school’s owner, Kevin Rychlik, that she would not be receiving any of her deposit back. An email received by FOX 5 Washington DC stated,
“After reflection and exploring every possible scenario, we have come to the conclusion there is no viable path forward.”
Additionally, the email stated that Rychlik had suffered a massive stroke in September of last year as the main reason for the school’s closing. After that, Rychlik suffered several other stroke-like episodes. The most recent incident occurred on July 19 and was very serious, and it left him unable to conduct normal business operations.
Virginia flight school bankruptcy
Aung had only completed 3.5 total flight hours when she received the email that announced the school, which was most recently renamed American Aviation Manassas LLC, was closing on August 1. According to AOPA, the email stated that after 21 years, the company was closing, all flights were canceled, and the office was not going to reopen.
Aung was obviously unhappy with the result of the closure. She told Fox 5,
“If you’re doing business, you have your responsibilities, right? And like … you need some kind of integrity … to keep the trustworthiness in doing business because of course, we all have life’s difficulties and barriers that we have to overcome.”
Rychlik officially filed for personal Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection on August 6, according to AOPA. The primary reason for the filing was due to business debt, which could potentially leave many of the company’s creditors unpaid. The bankruptcy petition lists 123 total creditors, including individuals, potential students, insurance companies, and many other types of companies as possible creditors. The school’s website has also already been brought offline.