Captain Lester Codog: When dreams take flight

A visionary and a man of many interests, this pilot-entrepreneur isn’t afraid of admitting and learning from his mistakes as well as going back to basics without losing sight of the future.

BY GRACE C. DIEZ

Captain Lester Codog’s identity doesn’t rest on him being a pilot alone. Because of his many talents and involvements, he has proven himself to be a true Renaissance man.

Apart from his stellar aviation career, for instance, he’s also an enterprising individual running several businesses.

Captain Lester Codog, a man of many interests and a big heart

With a difficult but colorful past that has shaped his character and current outlook in life, Codog knows the importance of seizing every available opportunity that comes his way. This he does not only for himself, but also for others in need of his help and assistance. Recently, for instance, he has been flying his own plane to conduct mercy flights amid the pandemic.

To him, aviation will always be the love of his life, the one exacting discipline that steered him to greater heights and in the right direction.

Codog during one of his mercy flights to transport a sick, elderly man from a remote area of the country to Metro Manila.

Living the dream

Captain Codog’s first career also turned out to be that one true passion he would keep coming back to.

“I studied flying in 1998, but stopped for 10 years. But for the love of it, I went back,” Codog begins.

“Ever since I was young, this has been my dream. Every time I see a pilot and the flight crew walking down the airport, I can’t stop thinking and looking at them—amazed at people landing a very big bird like a 747 aircraft with about 300 to 400 people onboard,” he says.

Now, he is the CEO of a Philippine-based private charter plane company that also provides medium-sized aircraft restoration. With over 2,000 hours of flying time, Codog has earned enough experience to confidently fly each time. Four years ago, however, there was an incident that forever altered his perspective in life.

Transporting vital packages during one of his flights.

“Back then, I accidentally crashed a brand new plane of mine with four passengers. It resulted from a miscalculation, which wasn’t helped by bad weather. The experience really taught me to be a better pilot,” he says.

Instead of being discouraged, he went back, in his words, “to the drawing board” by studying more. This meant going on an extended trip to the United States to retrain as a pilot. Rather than sweep the incident under the rug, Codog was quite open about it. More than anything else, he wanted fellow pilots to learn from his mistakes. At the same time, he never hesitated to give advice to those who sought them.

“I want don’t want them to make the same mistakes I’ve done,” he explains.

Thankfully, all of his four passengers survived the crash as well. The incident gave further clarity to the vision he has for the life he would want to live.

No days are too cloudy and dark to Codog whenever duty calls.

“After the crash, my vision has become completely different. I want to build a legacy.  Before I do anything or start a business, I have to be happy with what I’m doing. Lastly, I want to lead. I want to help a lot of people in whatever way,” the advocate of general aviation declares.

True to his vision and plans, he found himself doing mercy flights around the country amid the pandemic, delivering medicines and test kits as well as flying in COVID and non-COVID patients from the provinces in need of treatment in Metro Manila. He also uses his flying skills on rescue missions and during times of emergencies caused by natural disasters.

“General aviation means flying small and medium-sized airplanes. I never stopped pushing for it because it is dying already. I love it and I have a passion for general aviation so I never stopped promoting and teaching people that these types of planes are safe to fly,” he says. 

It comes with a cost. Because of his advocacy, Codog has been losing money for 10 to 12 years now. The last piece of the puzzle, he says, was to acquire numerous aircrafts. He then assembled a group of experts to help him put up a company doing general aviation work such as aircraft restoration and aircraft purchase consultation.

“In due time, we hope to get an AOC (air operator certificate) and become an AMO (approved maintenance organization) so we can go national and eventually international,” he says.

Smiling comes naturally to this happy, hardworking man

Entrepreneurial pursuits

There’s certainly more to Codog than being an aviation enthusiast. He’s also the founder and CEO of a pioneering company that specializes in revolutionary design and aesthetic foil car wrapping, offering an alternative to car paint protection. 

“I’ve loved cars since I was young. So, I went to the Middle East and got the technology and I brought it back to Southeast Asia. I tweaked it, reinvented a few things and made it big,” he says. 

While he was able to grow the company, it has been severely impacted when the pandemic hit. From 100 staffers, the organization is now down to 26.

“It’s not the time for you to feel bad, but it’s the time for you to adjust, rebuild and to think about the future and the new normal,” he says in hindsight.

As a leader, it was incumbent on Codog to think of ways to help other people, including his employees, ride out the pandemic amidst the severe economic downturn.

“For the time being, for instance, I moved my other people to my other businesses such as agriculture just to help everybody survive,” Codog, who also co-hosts “Kaya Mo ‘Yan,” a radio show on dzRH, says.

Apart form aviation and agriculture, Codog is involved in such businesses as mining industry services, restaurants, advertising and public relations, which have been providing either temporary or permanent employment to his displaced personnel.

“When the pandemic hit, it soon opened my eyes and led me back to basics. Apart from being jobless, people in Metro Manila literally have nothing to eat. So, what I did was to promote going back to the provinces to our kababayan. This, in turn, drew me back to certain basic necessities—agriculture, poultry and taking care of livestock as viable forms of livelihood,” Codog explains, hopeful for the future of his agribusiness.

While Codog has experienced success in life, he’s also no stranger to failures, especially during this pandemic. As soon as this global health crisis is over, he promised himself to “review” what went wrong before moving forward.

“My life is living proof that you can dream, pursue and achieve. But I have also experienced racism in another country and hardships in other fields. The experience made me a better boss, a better leader to my staff and my colleagues,” he shares.

Codog: “My life is living proof that you can dream, pursue and achieve.”

The follies of his youth also contributed to his views in life. “I’ve been a bad boy since I was young and had a kid when I was 16 years old. I was even sent out of the country to reform. The experience helped me grow and become a better person. It helped me teach young lads not to do the same mistakes I’ve made in life,” he notes.

There’s another very important lesson that may sound old, but this, too, proved to be very valuable, as Codog would learn later.

“As a Filipino, it’s in our culture to respect our parents. Up to now, it doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor, the respect and love for your parents should be there. This is something I’ve learned from my parents. Something I’m also teaching my children right now—respect and love for one’s family. Family comes first,” the entrepreneurial pilot concludes.