I was a lucky recipient of the Judith Resnik Memorial Scholarship in 2001 and completed my CFI and CFI-I at American Flyers in Addison, TX in September of that year. It was a tumultuous time in aviation, and I wasn’t sure where I would end up, but after getting my ratings, I returned to my home just outside of Boston, MA, to teach at the flight school where I had learned to fly. Shortly thereafter, I was offered a job in the right seat of a King Air.

After a year, during which I continued to teach as well as fly corporate, I suffered my first aviation lay-off, but I was not deterred. I applied for a job as a contract First Officer at Alpha Flying, Inc., an operator of Pilatus PC-12 aircraft. I got that job, and shortly was offered a full time position, then upgrade to Captain in the Spring of 2004.

All along I felt like I was destined to contribute more, so I offered my services to the company and they hired me as Assistant Director of Training, where I helped develop the training program that was approved by the FAA under 91 subpart K for fractional operations in early 2005. I took the reins as Director of Training 1 year later and have been doing that ever since.  In that time I have been responsible for initial, upgrade, transition, and recurrent ground and flight training for all of our First Officers and Captains. I love that I have the opportunity to fly, teach, and be home with my family every night.  I credit the Judith Resnik scholarship with helping me to achieve that goal.

Best Regards,

Lara