It started with a helicopter ride at a county fair when he was 8, which inspired his lifelong love of flying and catapulted Sergio Troiani on an entrepreneurial journey as the company he started – My Flight Tours – continues to grow from its unique new headquarters in the Motor City.
The company offers scenic helicopter tours of the new Gordie Howe International Bridge, the Michigan Central Station, the new Hudson’s Building and Ford Field, to mention a few, as well Mackinac Island further north and other towns across America including Dollywood in Tennessee.
Along the way, My Flight Tours has grown into a multistate operation, welcomed over 100,000 passengers and has become one of the country's fastest-growing helicopter tour operators.
Besides
Detroit, the company offers tours in Milwaukee, Baltimore, Philadelphia, the Smoky Mountains, Ocean City, Maryland, and northern Michigan. They have a fleet of 15 helicopters, 67 employees and plans to hire 20 more as they offer scenic fall color tours from Detroit, Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids, Saginaw and other airports across the state.
Prices for helicopter trips start around $65 for a 20-minute flight. Trips can be personalized for more. They also offer personalized air transportation rides.
2 college kids and a love of flying
Troiani started the company with his wife, Cassandra, who runs it with him. They met at Grand Valley State University when both were students. They worked full time jobs after graduation (he in the construction business, she for a materials handling company).
They stated My Flight Tours in 2019 and been growing and adjusting to market conditions along the way.
Besides helicopter rides and transportation, their new 12,000-square-foot headquarters includes a place for meetings, parties, and more. Guests are not required to take helicopter rides to use the facilities.
Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield was on hand for the recent ribbon cutting of the new headquarters as was Jason Watt, director of the Coleman A. Young International Airport, and other dignitaries.
Troiani, who deals with airports of all sizes across the country, was downright effusive talking about city officials and airport leaders who helped them work through issues as they built their new headquarters, which opened a month ago.
“We’ve been busy,” said Cassandra Troiani, who handles human resources for the company. They had two corporate events last weekend with each having over 200 guests. And yes, they did purchase rides for many of them.
Sergio Troiani, who hails from Plymouth, got his pilot’s license when he was 20, and began flying helicopters as a hobby. He saved up enough money to purchase a helicopter and decided to offer rides – enough to help cover his costs of flying.
That hobby grew into a business with Cassandra Troiani, who is from the west side of the state, by his side in the venture.
They left their jobs and dived head first into being business owners in 2021. They continue to live modestly, saving every penny to invest in their growing company.
They are self-funded and have not taken out any bank loans. ("Right now, we’re sharing a Tesla,” he told me when I asked what kind of car each was driving.)
They set up shop at the Coleman A. Young International Airport in 2021 but designed their first "brick and mortar” building from the ground up.
An epic event in their journey occurred a year after they started.
“The pandemic hit in 2020 and everything was in lockdown,” Sergio Troiani said, “except Mackinac. So we went there and began offering tours as it was the only place not on lockdown. Our business went crazy."
He added: “It was our ‘aha’ moment – as we knew we had a business that could grow from there."
After quitting their jobs, they continued to find unique ways to market their business. It included flying to regional airports and offering pancake breakfast events along with helicopter rides.
They are hoping to not only grow their tour business but entertainment and meeting space, too, with their new headquarters at the airport on Detroit’s east side. It has a full-service bar, small-plates menu, an outdoor patio overlooking the airfield, private event spaces, and immersive aviation-themed experiences for flying and non-flying guests.
“This building is the representation of thousands of decisions, countless hours of work, and the belief that we could create something truly special,” Cassandra Troiani said.
Sergio Troiani added: “Over the past several years, we have learned that people are looking for more than a helicopter ride. They want an experience they can enjoy with the people who matter to them.”
That includes birthday parties, retirements, engagement events, even date night. The most requested tour they offer in Detroit: the bridge tour.
“It showcases the Gordie Howe bridge, which is such a cool addition. It’s much larger than the Ambassador Bridge which you can really see when you’re flying around it,” he added.
One thing you won’t see in Detroit, however, is heliports.
“They’re used to be one at the RenCen, and (Cobo)/Huntington Place, but they’re no longer there," he said, adding he wasn’t sure if it was safety related or costs that led to their demise. “But you can still find them in downtown Toledo or Grand Rapids. Just not in Detroit."
For more visit MyFlightTours.com.
Contact Carol Cain at clcain@cbs.com. She is senior producer/host of "Michigan Matters," which airs 5:30 a.m. Sundays on CBS Detroit and 9:30 a.m. Sundays on CW Detroit 50. See Justin Robinson of Detroit Regional Partnership, and Sergio and Cassandra Troiani of My Flight Tours on this Sunday’s show. You can also watch the show simultaneously on the two stations' listings on Fubu, Pluto TV, YouTube TV and Apple TV.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: How Detroit based My Flight Tours came to be amid the pandemic
