Our History

2010
Dana and Meredith meet in suburban Washington, D.C. Each is already an accomplished flight instructor with thousands of flight hours. Dana proposes to Meredith at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. They marry a few months later at a quaint country airport in Maryland.

2012
Dana and Meredith purchase a 1938 Piper J-3 Cub and fly it all around the United States. It was a “bucket list” item for each of them. They publish a book about their experience, titled “Fly The Airplane,” and begin to plan for the next phase of their lives together: starting a family, and moving to a warmer climate, near the ocean.

2013
The Holladay’s welcome their daughter, Alexandra, into the world. The family drove from their home in Maryland to EAA AirVenture in July, and in September, loaded up their minivan and a small trailer and moved to Jacksonville. Why Jacksonville? Simple. Jacksonville is the first warm, major metropolitan area south of Washington, D.C. near the Atlantic Ocean.

2014
Holladay Aviation purchases its first airplane, N152SJ. We told new students that “the baby comes with the flight school,” as Meredith could often be seen in the corner of our small office changing a diaper or preparing a bottle of formula while Dana was out flying.

2017
Holladay Aviation hires its first instructor, purchases a few more airplanes, and moves into a larger office space with an attached corporate hangar. Through diligent online marketing efforts and old fashioned, word-of-mouth referrals, our student roster grew exponentially.