The Sky is the Limit

In May of 2022, I wrote about a superb program at Lely High School that offered an unparalleled career future of travel to students. Back in 2021, Megan Leiti, a former Lely High School Dean of Discipline, discussed possible flight training at the district level and asked Algebra teacher Alan Davis to conduct the program. The Lely High School Aviation Academy was born. Alan had extensive experience from his military career as an aviation mechanic, helicopter pilot, and as a teacher of Personnel Recovery, Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape Techniques. He also had his Commercial Pilot license and FAA instructor rating. And to complete the impressive resume, he holds a Master of Arts Degree and an undergraduate degree in Aeronautical Science. He became an adjunct professor at Embry-Riddle University and was able to create a dual enrollment curriculum with their aviation program, which is recognized as one of the best in the nation. 

At Marco Island Executive Airport, the days of the scheduled service of Marco Island Airways are long gone, and so is the small terminal that was so precariously close to the tarmac that the wings of planes almost touched the building. Instead, we have a state-of-the-art new building with enough facilities to give Alan Davis enough room for classes and hands-on experience for his future pilots. A couple of months ago, affable Nick Rossdale left Immokalee Airport to become Operations Manager here and fits right into the great atmosphere amongst staff. The ever-increasing number of landings and take-offs contributes to some serious dollars spent on Marco Island and in Naples by those flying in mostly on private jets. 

In May of 2022, I spent an afternoon with a class of students and recently checked up on a few of them. Ever since he can remember, Stephen Bordanaro wanted to be a pilot, and that dream was made possible beginning with the aviation class taught by Alan Davis. Today, at a youthful 23 years of age, he is a captain with Delta Connection based out of Minneapolis. His continuing aviation education was made possible with a James C. Ray Scholarship and a side job at McDonald’s. But Steve mentioned the financial help and support of his parents as the main reason for his success. Obviously, hard work and study contributed to his success. What is next for this ambitious pilot is to hopefully fly the Boeing 787 internationally within the next couple of years. Steve mentioned that his present goal is to get a job at United Airlines in Chicago. He loves the culture of the airline and would really like to live in Chicago.

I spoke to Eva Lobaton, who back in 2022 was one of the only ones in the class declaring that she had no interest in becoming a commercial pilot but loved learning to fly. Additionally, she is one of those students who is completely in her element studying and continuing to learn. She broke a time record by completing all theoretical requirements for the initial pilot’s license during the Covid lockdown. When I talked to her recently, she confirmed that in the meantime, she has graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s degree and hopes to get her master’s, a PHD and work as a Biomedical Research Engineer. In the meantime, she saves money working at The Marco Island Executive Airport in customer service and flying as much as she can to get more hours and keep current. She is also excited to encourage her eighteen-year-old sister Ana, who just started to work on her pilot’s license. Eva is certainly another example of the youth that is so important to the future of our country. People willing to put in the effort and work to fulfill their American Dream. 

In Alan Davis’ Algebra Class at Lely High School, there was a 17-year-old student named Andi Miller. She had never thought about learning to fly but was introduced to the academy through the Algebra class and promptly fell in love with it. It was still not a career goal because she saw no possibility to finance flight school all the way to a commercial license. However, Andi was awarded a James C. Ray Foundation flight scholarship, allowing her to at least pursue her Private Pilot License, and she graduated on her 19th birthday. Not surprisingly now she had really been touched by the love of flying and the world of travel instead of a nine to five job here in Naples or Marco Island. 

She has promised herself to continue all the way and become a commercial pilot on a widebody jet flying internationally. Initially, she obtained her Instructors’ License at Marco Island Executive Airport and was given the opportunity to work flexible hours here as an instructor. She also manned the information desk at the airport as a customer service representative and even worked at a sports bar to save money for her lofty goal.

The three jobs and a scholarship from the Justin Swaggerty Aviation Foundation made it possible for Andi to continue her studies and realize her dream. Later, Airshare, a private jet company, paid for her rating on the Phenom 300 business jet while flying for them. Today she is based in Chicago, flying as First Officer for Delta Connection and hopefully upgrading to the rank of Captain within two years and from there to Delta. Born in Naples, Andi has lots of family and friends in Naples and comes home often. In her free time, she loves to offer free “discovery flights” for future students at the Lely Aviation Academy. 

While she was still a student, one of the first flying experiences she enjoyed tremendously was piloting recovery flights to the island of Abaco in the Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian in 2019. The southwest Florida community donated essential goods, and together with an instructor, she was one of the pilots delivering this relief to the island on quick turnaround flights, landing there amongst many other good Samaritans on the severely damaged runway. 

Today, Andi proudly wears her Delta uniform. Only 5.5% of airline pilots are women, and last year’s official FAA Airman statistics lists 283 women under the age of twenty-five holding an ATP license that is required of all commercial pilots. 

In her case this meant she needed to hold a first class medical certificate to act as Pilot-In-Command, hold a second class medical certificate to act as Second-In-Command, 1,500 hours of total flight time, 500 hours of cross-country flight time, 250 hours as Pilot-In-Command (PIC), 100 hours of night flight time, 75 hours of Instrument Training, 50 hours of In Class of Rating Sought, pass an ATP knowledge test, complete and pass an ATP-CTP training program. 

Andi’s goal is to earn her Captain’s stripes within the next two years and fly the world. This young woman is a fine example of the youth of today who are willing to work hard to achieve their dreams.