15 years old may seem young to be interviewing executives at major airlines, but the four Lakeside students heading American Aviation Network started their first podcast even earlier than that: in the fall of 6th grade at Lakeside Middle School.
“It’s hard to believe it’s been over three years now,” said Max C. ’29, cofounder of the American Aviation Network. “We all sort of found each other and discovered we love aviation.”
Max recalled that he first became interested in aviation in the second grade. Bulut K. ’29, the director of multimedia and production and the editor of the videos, became interested in 4th grade, Max said, and Asher M. ’29, the strategy officer, who provides coverage of the Americas, had been interested in aviation for a long time. Finn S. ’29, the data chief and research officer, who provides coverage of the Asian-Pacific region, first became interested when flying frequently to Asia and found himself fascinated by the experience of flying on planes and learning about them, Max added.
“We really hit the ground running in the fall of sixth grade,” Max recounted. “We got a really big name, somebody that was pretty high up at Alaska Airlines, and we got him to come and talk to us.” Max recalled that they recorded the first interview in a middle school practice room after school, and the moment became both a bonding experience and the momentum they very much needed to dive deeper into the aviation world.
Max credits the channel’s fast growth to the Lakeside environment and flexible schedule, explaining that Lakeside allowed them time during the day to work on creative and personal projects like their podcast and YouTube channel. “It’s pretty interesting that I was able to A) meet people that like airplanes, B) meet them here at Lakeside, and then have all this time available,” Max said. It was a perfect storm of factors converging into one point. Despite getting their start from their middle-school aviation channel, where they forced their fellow students to subscribe, the team has now set their sights on a new and ambitious goal: to cement their channel as part of the aviation industry. The current channel has around 500 subscribers, around 90,000 views, and viewers from over 50 countries watching. And in total, the American Aviation Network brand boasts 200,000 views across multiple different platforms.
As one of the leading aviation news outlets in the Seattle area, they take their job pretty seriously: according to Max, journalistic integrity and an ambitious desire for the truth drive them forward. Aside from fact-checking, the team will usually go right to the source. “[The channel] has taught me to take risks, to cold call PR people and executives at airlines and ask the question up-front, because I want their honest answer,” Max said. “I want to know if they sigh or hesitate.”
Each 8- to 10-minute video featured on the channel dials in on a specific part of the industry. And even their flight reviews feature broad coverage: the background of the flight, the interior of the plane before boarding, the history of the plane and service, and different routes.
“Tomorrow, we’re going to SeaTac Airport to drive around with people in airport operations,” Max said during the interview. “We’ll go on the runway and watch planes land and show the world all the flights coming into SeaTac — how Seattle is becoming a global market.”
“The hardest part is realizing that you have deadlines and followers you need to fulfill for, … and [the videos] have got to grasp the viewer and bring them into our world,” Max noted. Weighing the importance of unique, informative, and entertaining videos with tight deadlines and school work can be difficult, but they manage to strike a balance.
Research for the videos involves checking the flight radar, reading other news publications, and researching “breaking news” related to aviation, Max says, adding that most of their ideas start in the Pigott Memorial Library, pitching concepts to each other and discussing what content could engage their viewers. But mostly, the group of four is prepared to dive down any rabbit hole that piques their interest to reach a destination.
“We want to dive under the surface. We want to get into the why,” Max explained. “I’m going to give you an example. Our first video, which is now at roughly 19,000 views, was one discussing Alaska Airlines and how they are a Seattle-based airline that you typically expect to fly regionally around the Northwest, the country, and, you know, maybe to Hawaii and obviously Alaska. But [Alaska Airlines] is going global. They bought over a dozen Boeing 787 aircraft, and they’re going to fly them through all these global cities. The four of us specialize in Alaska and Delta Airlines — they’re the two dominant airlines here in Seattle. And so we thought, ‘what is not a better way to start these informative videos than with that?‘ And so the process began. We’re noticing something here — why are they making the move? Why now? Why does Alaska need this?”
According to Max, the team then reaches out to the airline or company — in this case, Alaska Airlines — to receive answers and B-roll for the videos. They’ll script the video in a Google Doc, and then record. Bulut, the video editor, is the one responsible for the magic of turning footage into a fully-formed YouTube video.
“It’s a process that can also result in a little bit of disagreement and conflict internally,” Max added. “And making sure we have our facts completely straight.”
As for future plans? Currently, they’re taking each day as it comes to them, fulfilling deadlines while juggling the rigors of Lakeside. “It’s been so great to work with friends and create something we’re proud of,” Asher said. “I’m so grateful that we all found each other through Lakeside.” Max added: “I don’t know how much longer we’re going to be doing these videos for. It somewhat depends on the demands: will the next five videos fail spectacularly? Will we run into a dead end?”
In the present, the team continues to barrel forward. With ideas lined up for the next three months of spring, involving possible partnerships with different airlines and increased coverage of flight launches, they have their hands full, Max explained. But despite the growth of their channel, Max remains humble. “As we are teaching people, we are learning ourselves,” he said. “We’re not some supreme master of aviation. We’re just high schoolers, trying to share this information with everyone.”
