Corporate Jet Pilot: Mike Mullooly
Bay Area native Mike Mullooly found his life’s trajectory at San Carlos Airport. His earliest memories are of flying in a Cessna 172 with his dad, a dentist who moonlighted as a private pilot. Those weekend flights sparked a lifelong passion, and a career that would eventually span regional airlines, business aviation leadership, and global Gulfstream operations.
As a teenager, Mike took his first demo flight at Skyway Aviation (1983) and began lessons at San Carlos Flight Center by his junior year of high school. To pay for training, he washed airplanes on the SQL ramp, an entry level job that led to Airport Operations and, later, part ownership of Diamond Aviation. SQL also introduced him to Tiffany, now his wife of nearly three decades, who was working the flight school front desk while earning her own wings.
Academically, Mike’s path reflects the same hands on curiosity that drew him to flying. After time in aerospace engineering, he discovered anthropology at Cañada College, earning an AA and a mentor who encouraged field work. He continued in anthropology at UC Berkeley, where he even used aerial photography shot from a rented Cessna 172, to document an archaeological site, earning upper division independent study credit. That blend of practical skill and intellectual discipline shows up throughout his aviation career.
From 1993 to 1996, Mike doubled down on flying and community service. He instructed, helped others reach their goals through his flight school work, and began what has become more than 30 years of service with the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office Air Support Unit. That ethos, professional excellence and public service remains a constant.
The airline chapter began in 1996, when Continental Express hired him on the EMB‑120 Brasilia. He later upgraded to EMB‑145 Captain and Check Airman. Mike loved the training culture and camaraderie, but the rigidity of airline operations often kept crews from solving problems proactively for customers. That insight nudged him toward business aviation, where technical precision and customer care meet.
In 2004 he joined Executive Jet Management as a Hawker 800XP captain in Oakland, learning flight department leadership under mentor Christopher Thomas and eventually serving as Lead Pilot. After riding out the 2009 downturn, Mike moved to the Cessna Citation X (CE‑750) with XOJET, then, in 2011, to Solairus Aviation to launch and lead Clif Bar’s flight operation as its first Chief Pilot. Building a high touch, safety driven “experience” for passengers, became his hallmark.
Opportunity knocked again in 2012. Mike teamed back up with Chris Thomas to fly for GoPro founder Nick Woodman on a new Gulfstream G550. Since then, Mike has logged more than a decade of worldwide G550 operations, helping shape a culture that is equal parts disciplined, discreet, and deeply service oriented and supporting a client base that demands both range and reliability. He continues to fly the G550 today, with a G700 on order for the next chapter.
Despite the global itinerary, home base is still the Bay Area Peninsula. Mike and Tiffany remain active in the SQL community and have owned a string of classic aircraft, among them a Piper Archer, Beechcraft Travel Air, Bellanca Citabria, Globe Swift, and their current Beechcraft Debonair. Ask Mike what ties it all together and he’ll point to the same runway where it started: San Carlos Airport.
“SQL is where I found my passion, my profession, and my wife … I can’t imagine what my life would be like without all the things SQL has given me.”
