David Pettet's guest appearances

David Pettet

Ready For Takeoff - Turn Your Aviation Passion Into A Career

08 Left

Scott Huesing

David Berke

Patty Wagstaff

Dean Siracusa

Patrick Smith

Karlene Petitt

Karen Kahn

Don Sebastian

Robert DeLaurentis

Chris Palmer

Deborah Hecker

Carl Valeri

George H.W. Bush

Julie Clark

Lee Lauderback

OwlTail

Brooks Beaudoin

We kick off our podcast with David Pettet and Brooks Beaudoin of the NGPA. David is the President of the organization and Brooks is the Advocacy Chair. We're really proud to have them on, to know them, to hear a little of their story and talk some aviation, some advocacy and important things like why Honolulu doesn't say the "0" in "08".

001: David Pettet and Brooks Beaudoin

As a 5-year-old, David Pettet wrote a letter to himself saying he wanted to be an airline pilot. He became a CFI as an 18-year-old, hired on as gate agent with a regional carrier, and parlayed that into a flying job. He was hired by Omni Air International as a B767 pilot, then moved to Hawaiian Airlines, flying the DC9 and the A330, and finally landed his current job at a major legacy airline. He has been a member of the National Gay Pilots Association since his early years as a pilot, and served in numerous leadership positions, rising to his current position as Executive Director. The NGPA has both gay and straight members, and offers numerous membership benefits, including networking opportunities and millions of dollars in scholarships available to all members. The NGPA is now an international organization, and is much larger than simply the LGBT community, offering networking opportunities for pilots of all genders and lifestyles. Their Industry Expo offers representatives from numerous airlines, including over 40 airline and vendor exhibitors. The last several hours of the Expo are reserved for members only, to allow them to interface with airline recruiters. The scholarship program is currently  giving away 3 B737 type ratings, over $100,00 in cash awards, and a $5000 Private Pilot scholarship. Here's the important point for all pilots: you don't need to be LGBT to win a scholarship - fully half of the scholarships go to straight pilots! The organization has stated, "In order for us to ask the industry to be inclusive of LGBT, we have to be inclusive as well." The organization offers several types of memberships, from individual to family and student.

As a 5-year-old, David Pettet wrote a letter to himself saying he wanted to be an airline pilot. He became a CFI as an 18-year-old, hired on as gate agent with a regional carrier, and parlayed that into a flying job. He was hired by Omni Air International as a B767 pilot, then moved to Hawaiian Airlines, flying the DC9 and the A330, and finally landed his current job at a major legacy airline. He has been a member of the <a href="http://ngpa.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">National Gay Pilots Association</a> since his early years as a pilot, and served in numerous leadership positions, rising to his current position as Executive Director. The NGPA has both gay and straight members, and offers numerous <a href="http://ngpa.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&amp;club_id=189069&amp;module_id=229357" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">membership benefits</a>, including networking opportunities and millions of dollars in scholarships available to all members. The NGPA is now an international organization, and is much larger than simply the LGBT community, offering networking opportunities for pilots of all genders and lifestyles. Their Industry Expo offers representatives from numerous airlines, including over 40 airline and vendor exhibitors. The last several hours of the Expo are reserved for members only, to allow them to interface with airline recruiters. The scholarship program is currently  giving away 3 B737 type ratings, over $100,00 in cash awards, and a $5000 Private Pilot scholarship. Here's the important point for all pilots: you don't need to be LGBT to win a scholarship - fully half of the scholarships go to straight pilots! The organization has stated, "In order for us to ask the industry to be inclusive of LGBT, we have to be inclusive as well." The organization offers several types of <a href="http://ngpa.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&amp;club_id=189069&amp;module_id=135872" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">memberships</a>, from individual to family and student.

RFT 072: NGPA Executive Director David Pettet