A Leadership Academy For Pilots Who Want to Build Trust, Respect and Confidence.
You were trained to fly the aircraft. Nobody trained you to lead the crew.
Live group coaching every week, a proven system built for the flightdeck and a community of pilots and mentors doing the same work right alongside you.
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Trusted by 600+ pilots across every stage of their career.
Airlines · Business aviation · Flight schools
See It For Yourself
Watch This Before You Scroll.
Two minutes. Captain Kyle Freiburger explains exactly what this is and who it is for.
The Problem
You can manage the aircraft. Leading the people on it is a different problem.
You know your intent is good but sometimes the flightdeck feels tense and you're not sure why.
You walk off a leg wondering what just happened. You push when you should pull back or you go quiet when you should speak up.
That's not a confidence problem, it's a leadership gap and your training never addressed it. Left alone, that gap doesn't stay quiet. Here is where it shows up.
At the interview: Everything is on the line and you know you can fly. But when they ask how you lead under pressure, you reach for words you don't have. The seat goes to the pilot who could tell that story with confidence.
As a First Officer: The captain keeps shutting you down, so you go quiet. You stop speaking up, even when it matters. The frustration follows you home and upgrade is coming, with a quiet voice asking if you are really ready to be the one in command.
In the left seat: Your intent is good, but your words land differently than you mean them. The crew goes quiet. They follow your calls but they do not fully trust you ye and you walk off the flight still wondering why leading feels harder than flying.
The Shift
The pilots crews trust are not the ones with the most hours.
They're the ones who know how to own their impact.
Read a room, make people feel steady when things get hard and speak up clearly without creating tension.
That is not personality, that's a skill!
And like every skill worth having in aviation, you build it through practice and repetition.
This is where that happens.
The Take the Lead System
There's a checklist for every emergency but this one.
Imagine you are in the flightdeck and you get an engine fire, except no one ever trained you on how to handle one. No drill, no procedure, nothing to fall back on.
Most pilots would freeze, or start reaching for buttons and hoping something works. That is exactly why you train the drill until it's automatic and why you carry a checklist for the moment it matters. When it counts, you don't improvise, you run the procedure you already know.
Now think about how most pilots lead under pressure. They end up doing the one thing they would never do in the flightdeck. They react on instinct and hope it lands. Nobody ever gave them a procedure for it.
The Take the Lead system helps you build those skills. It's the procedure you run when the pressure hits, so you are leading on purpose instead of hoping something works.
How You'll Show up Different in 6 Months
You will not become a different leader overnight but you will feel the first shift in weeks, not years.
Month 1
You start seeing what you used to miss.
You can finally name what's happening the second the pressure hits. You feel the frustration rise, you catch your impact missing, you notice yourself slipping into blame or justify, all while you're still in the moment instead of hours later. You can't change what you can't see, so this is where everything turns.
Month 2
You have a move, not just a reaction.
Catching the moment is one thing. Knowing what to do with it is another. You stop freezing or defending or going quiet. You start reaching for a real move, and you feel yourself leading the moment instead of just surviving it.
Month 3
People respond to you differently.
Now it turns outward. You learn how you actually come across. And you learn to read the person in front of you, so the same words start landing a whole new way. People feel the shift in you before they can even name it.
Month 4
You own your part, even when it costs you.
You stop hiding behind your good intentions and start owning your impact, especially when owning it isn't comfortable. That's when leadership stops being a performance and becomes something solid underneath you.
Month 5
You hold steady when it counts.
Anyone can lead on a calm day. This is where you stay level when the pressure is high and everything is moving at once. You recover faster. And that steadiness starts to read as command.
Month 6
It's just how you fly now.
No more thinking your way through it. It's automatic. You walk into the interview with earned confidence, you carry yourself ready for the upgrade, you stop replaying your days wishing you'd done better. This is simply how you lead now.
Don't Take Our Word For It.
Is This Right For You?
This is for pilots ready to do the work.
Right for you if:
You're a student pilot who wants to build the right habits from day one
You're an instructor who wants to lead your students not just teach them
You're preparing for an airline interview and want to walk in with real confidence
You're a first officer who wants to show up ready when upgrade comes
You're a captain who wants your crew to trust you not just follow you
You're tired of walking off flights knowing something was off
You're ready to be honest about how you're showing up
Not for you if:
You're looking for a quick fix
You think leadership is a title or a rank
You hope it just works itself out over time
You think the problem is always the other pilot
You want information without any personal reflection
You're not willing to look honestly at how you are showing up
You would rather be right than get better
Your Leader
10,000 hours of lessons learned.
Hey there I'm Kyle Freiburger. Former A321 captain with over 10,000 hours of lessons learned in the flightdeck and thousands of more hours of lessons learned on the ground.
I spent years flying the line before I realized something was off. I was technically strong, checkrides done and type ratings earned, but I was not always the leader my crew needed me to be. I didn't see it at the time because I was never trained on how to recognize it and take the lead.
Aviation does an excellent job of training pilots and a poor job of developing leaders. I built this academy because nothing like it existed when I was coming up and I didn't want other pilots to figure it out the hard way like I did.
Captain Kyle Freiburger: Founder, First Class Leaders
What pilots are saying
"I walked in not knowing anyone. I left feeling like I was surrounded by people who actually wanted to see me grow."
"I enrolled and attended my first live session the same day. By the end of it, a fellow pilot had offered to refer me to HR at his airline. That kind of introduction doesn't happen in a classroom."
"No egos. No war stories. Just pilots at every level working through the same problems together."
"I've been flying long enough to know that leadership isn't a destination. It's a journey. And the only way to keep growing is to stay in rooms with people who challenge you.
"I always struggled to connect with other pilots my age. I couldn't understand why they reacted to me the way they did. I was asking honest questions. Something kept getting lost. After the workshop I understood why. It wasn't just about communication. It was about my behavioral patterns. The way I was wired was causing people to react instead of respond. Once I saw that, I could do something about it. Now I think before I speak. I shape what I say around the response I actually want. And it works. I'm 250 hours into my career. I've already done workshops in the Philippines and Canada. This is the training I wish every pilot had from day one. It will change how you fly. It will change how you lead. And it will change how people see you."
"When I was searching for my first professional flying job, I took the First Class Leaders workshop and joined the community. It changed how I walked into interviews. I could speak clearly about my communication style. I could present myself as someone a company could hire as a First Officer and eventually upgrade to Captain. My company was impressed I had already done leadership training. It gave me a leg up on everyone else in my hiring group. I got the job. I'm now a First Officer with 700 hours and I still use what I learned every single day on the flight deck."
"I joined on a Tuesday. By Friday I had already used something in the cockpit. I fly with different people every day. You show up, you brief, you fly. And you spend eight hours figuring out who this person is while managing everything else. Before this I was doing that blind. Reading people by instinct. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes it created friction and I didn't know why. After a few sessions something clicked. I started noticing things I had been walking past for years. The way someone frames a question. The pace they operate at. Whether they need to be included in the thinking or just given a clear answer. Small signals. But once you see them you can't unsee them. Every session I come away with something I can use on the next flight. The knowledge doesn't stay in the room. It goes to work with you."
Here's Everything You Get as a First Class Member:
90-Day Leadership Flight Plan
Step-by-step roadmap tailored to your career stage (Value: $197)
Private Discussion Groups
Connect with pilots facing the same challenges you are (Value: $97)
Monthly Live Training Calls
Practice real scenarios with expert feedback
(Value: $297)
Leadership Academy Access
Earn recognition badges for mastering communication, conflict resolution, and decision-making
(Value: $497)
Total Value: $1,388
Your Investment: Just $20/month
FAQ
Do I need to show up live?
Most sessions are recorded and available to watch anytime. And with multiple live sessions every month there are plenty of opportunities to connect in real time even with a busy flying schedule. This community is designed around the reality of pilot life.
I am a newer pilot. Is this too advanced?
No. Leadership gaps show up at every stage. The earlier you address them the better your career goes. Some of the most engaged members in here are newer pilots.
I am not a pilot yet. Is this still for me?
This community is designed for pilots who have at least started flight training. If you are actively in flight school you are welcome and you will get a lot out of starting this work early. If you have not yet begun your training we ask that you wait until you do. We protect the integrity of the community so that every conversation is grounded in real aviation experience.
I am a captain. Is there an opportunity to give back?
Absolutely. Captains are actively encouraged to mentor more junior pilots inside the community. Your experience and perspective is one of the most valuable things a newer pilot can access. Showing up here is how you build the kind of legacy that lasts beyond your flying career.
I am a retired pilot. Is this still relevant for me?
Yes and we want you here. Retired pilots bring something no training program can replicate. Real experience. Hard earned lessons. A perspective that only comes from years in the left seat. This community is a place where you can share that, mentor the next generation of pilots, and leave a legacy that outlasts your flying career. Your experience matters here.
Are there any discounts or perks?
Yes. Members get exclusive discounts to third party resources and tools that complement your leadership development. These are added benefits on top of everything already included in the community.
How is this different from a book or a podcast?
You cannot ask a book a question. You cannot get real time feedback from a podcast. This is live, interactive, and built specifically for aviation. Nothing else like it exists.
Once You Apply
Free Clarity Call
Once you apply, you will have the ability to book a free clarity call.
On this call, we will help you get clarity on where you are as a leader, where you want to be in 6 months, and how to close that gap.
If we are a good fit, then we will discuss next steps together.
