An Airport Led to an Aviation Career
April 22, 2019
Fernando Pineda
He grew up near JFK airport, and loved watching aircraft arrive and depart. A trip to the airport was a real treat. That’s what started Fernando Pineda’s career in the airline industry.
“The entire system was intriguing to me, yet seemed very out of reach,” said Pineda. As it turned out, not so.
After doing a hitch with the U.S. Army as an airborne infantryman, he enrolled in FSC’s aviation program. He satisfied his passion for flying, but while at FSC he discovered he also had passions for computer systems and business. While a junior he answered an ad that read: “Upper Classmen opportunity in Aircraft Management and Marketing at Select Aviation Academy.” But it turned out the job was washing Cessna aircraft and handing out flyers along Route 110. But through hard work and innovative thinking – he introduced the company to the Internet – by his senior year he was general manager of the flight school.
“Although I was flying a great deal,” Pineda said, “I came to the realization that I may enjoy business aviation quite a lot.”
And he has enjoyed it ever since, slowly but surely climbing up the management ladder, taking jobs such as Operations Manager for an Atlanta luxury jet company. After that he started his own consulting firm, which led to a senior executive position. To bring the story up to date, earlier this year Pineda was recruited by Nicholas Air, where he took a position as Executive Vice President of Operations for the charter jet operation in Oxford, Mississippi. Pineda gives lots of credit for his success to his education at FSC.
“Every subject I had during my degree studies at Farmingdale has served me one way or another throughout my careers. It seems like just yesterday when I lived in Lehman Hall and hung out with my Alpha Eta Rho brothers and sisters in Roosevelt Hall. Life happens quickly. Farmingdale gave this Brooklyn kid the tools, knowledge, and confidence for success. And it all started with my first aviation class in Lupton hall 23 short years ago.”
