Meet Barry Knuttila

CEO and Part Owner of King Schools, Inc.

In 2022 Barry found himself a refugee from corporate America. His head was still spinning after one minute being a successful Vice President in a billion-dollar, publicly traded software company, and in the next minute being on the street after suffering a devesting crash that sent the company’s CEO to jail.

Barry needed a change, and as a passionate pilot, gave himself the gift of two years to work in aviation improving King Schools’ technology, and doing a lot of flying before looking for his next “real job”. That was 22 years ago, and he has given up looking…What he found at King Schools was a company run on meaningful and compassionate principals, important mentorship and a deep passion for teaching that continues to drive him toward helping learning pilots succeed throughout their flying lifetime.

As CEO and Co-Owner, Barry guides King Schools strategy and growth, and appears regularly as an on-camera instructor in King’s video courses. Teaching is something he has always enjoyed, but Barry never imagined being able to help so many pilots learn through the magic of streaming video that can be viewed from anywhere in the world and downloaded to personal devices for viewing offline.

Barry holds a Flight Instructor Certificate with ratings for single and multiengine airplanes and instrument instruction. He also holds an Airline Transport Pilot Certificate with a Falcon 10 jet type rating and commercial seaplane, and private helicopter privileges.

Over the years, Barry has logged time in 45 different aircraft types including introducing tour passengers to aerobatic, formation and air combat flights, along with his partners in 3 Great Lakes biplanes. He and his wife, Virginie, also love flying their Beechcraft Debonair.

Barry especially enjoys trading seats with John and Martha in King Schools’ old Falcon 10 jet and lately also with his wife, who is a professional jet charter pilot. But, as much fun as it is flying an old, hot, swept-wing French jet, when asked what airplane Barry likes best, his answer is usually still whichever one he’s flown last.

Barry is far from running out of items on his list of flying aspirations, as well as growth opportunities for King Schools and fully expects the next 22 years to be the best yet!

• Airplane Multiengine Land

• Falcon 10

• Airplane Single Engine Land
• Airplane Single Engine Sea

• Rotorcraft-Helicopter

• Small Unmanned Aircraft System

• Airplane Single and Multiengine
• Instrument Airplane

• Advanced
• Instrument