DeAero taps Right Rudder Marketing to grow student pipeline

DeAero, a Part 61 flight school at Litchfield Municipal Airport in Minnesota, has hired Right Rudder Marketing to run a 12-month student acquisition program. The push is aimed at drawing more pilots from central and west central Minnesota and turning local interest into discovery flights and enrollments.

Why it matters: - DeAero is trying to expand awareness beyond Litchfield and reach student pilots who may otherwise head to metro-area schools. - The partnership pairs a low-cost, locally maintained flight school with a marketing system built to increase discovery flights and enrollments. - The 12-month program is designed to give DeAero a repeatable sales funnel, not just short-term ad traffic.

What happened: - DeAero partnered with Right Rudder Marketing to run the agency’s full Flight School Marketing System. - Right Rudder Marketing built DeAero’s website, deaero.us, and will support the school over the next 12 months. - The campaign targets prospective student pilots in Litchfield, Willmar, St. Cloud and the western Twin Cities. - The school is based at Litchfield Municipal Airport, about an hour west of Minneapolis.

The details: - DeAero is a Part 61 flight school that trains students from sport pilot through commercial and flight instructor. - The school also offers instrument ratings, tailwheel endorsements, flight reviews and instrument proficiency checks. - The fleet includes an IFR-capable Cessna 150, an Aeronca 7AC Champ taildragger and a four-seat Piper Cherokee. - Students who own an airplane can train in their own aircraft. - DeAero offers pay-as-you-go training with no required deposits or prepaid packages. - The Cessna 150 rents for $110 an hour with fuel included. - The Champ rents for $95 an hour with fuel included. - Instruction costs $60 an hour. - Lessons run weekdays and Saturdays, and students driving from the metro can book longer blocks. - Owner and Flight Instructor Dan Berryhill founded DeAero after buying an airplane to make flying more affordable for himself. - Berryhill rented the aircraft to other pilots and used it for instruction to offset costs and grow the business into a flight school. - Berryhill has flown since age 15. - Berryhill holds commercial pilot and flight instructor certificates, plus an airframe and powerplant mechanic certificate with inspection authorization. - DeAero maintains its own aircraft. - Flight and Instrument Instructor Austin Koistinen earned his private pilot certificate in high school. - Koistinen later attended Lake Area Technical College in Watertown, South Dakota, where he earned instrument, commercial, CFI and CFII ratings and completed a Professional Fixed-Wing Pilot degree in 2025. - Prospective students can book a one-hour discovery flight for $100 at deaero.us or by calling 320-373-4500.

Between the lines: - Berryhill’s background as both mechanic and pilot fits DeAero’s pitch of lower-cost training and hands-on aircraft maintenance. - Right Rudder Marketing is focusing first on positioning, Google Business Profile updates and ad campaigns before expanding into local SEO and lead-generation assets. - The marketing plan suggests DeAero wants more predictable lead flow from nearby markets that already have access to multiple flight-training options. - Right Rudder Marketing founder and CEO Tim Jedrek framed the opportunity as helping nearby prospects find DeAero before larger metro schools.

What’s next: - The first 90 days will focus on positioning, Google Business Profile improvements and paid ads. - Later phases will add location-based SEO, lead magnets, a video and photo media day and a six-month performance review. - Right Rudder Marketing will track leads, discovery flight bookings, enrollments and cost per student. - Berryhill and Tim Jedrek will meet monthly to review results. - The 12-month plan ends with a performance review and a strategy session for year two. - Flight school owners can request a free Flight School Growth Audit at Right Rudder Marketing.

The bottom line: - DeAero is betting that low pricing, owner-maintained aircraft and targeted digital marketing can pull more aspiring pilots from outside the Twin Cities and turn them into students.