Pilot Success Story

Steven F.
Delta Air Lines

Steven linked up with Tennessee Flight Training in 2014 while he was a Flight Paramedic. In just a few short years, he earned all the necessary ratings and was hired by PSA Airlines. In 2023, he landed his “dream job” as a 737 First Office at Delta Air Lines.

Steven’s story:

My love for aviation started at a very young age, having gone to preschool next to a small community airport in suburban Philadelphia, as well as living in close proximity to a Naval Air Station, my eyes were always in the skies. I got involved with the Civil Air Patrol at age 13, which gave me a lot of different exposure to many facets of aviation. As a cadet with them, I was able to complete my private pilot certificate at age 18, and shortly after my instrument rating before I moved to Tennessee.

I was originally an aerospace major at MTSU when I moved here, but combined with the economic and airline industry environment of the time (2007-2008), I found myself thinking that maybe becoming a professional pilot wasn’t for me. I decided on a different direction for myself, and eventually became a Critical Care Paramedic for Nashville Fire, as well as a Flight Paramedic for Erlanger Health in Chattanooga.

Despite this change in direction, I still continued to fly, but purely for the joy of aviation. I became involved with Tennessee Flight Training (at the time, Nashville Flight Training) in early 2014, originally just as a place to maintain flying proficiency and occasionally do the “$100 hamburger run.” But through the years, the dream to become a professional pilot lived on. In 2018, I started looking at the industry again. Pay and quality of life was significantly better than 10 years prior, the industry was in a period of astronomical growth, and most importantly, my wife fully supported me making a change and chasing my dream. So, I walked into TFT one day, not as the “every now and then” renter, but as a “I’m ready to change my life” student. I quickly linked up with Chris Mason, one of their amazing instructors, and with 14 years and 600 hours of flight experience already under my belt, I was able to quickly complete my commercial and CFI ratings.

I started at TFT as an instructor in January of 2019, and shortly thereafter fully left the EMS world that I had grown in and loved for the last decade. By late August of that same year, I was nearing the 1500-hour mark and was scheduling interviews with regional airlines for the next big step. I was hired as a first officer for PSA Airlines and started in November of 2019. I spent three years there (through the height of COVID, when we all thought the industry was going to collapse), but somehow, through the brief slowdown that happened during that time, the industry continued its rapid growth, and I was hired at my “dream job” at Delta Air Lines as a 737 First Officer in January of 2023, which is where I plan to spend the next 25+ years until retirement.

I wouldn’t be where I am today without the growth and support that Tennessee Flight Training provided to me over the last 10 years. The opportunities they provided, the friendships and professional contacts made, and the high-quality training set me up for rapid growth and success in this industry. I’m proud to still be involved in a smaller capacity as a Senior Instructor, providing mentorship, support, and guidance to staff instructors and aspiring students alike, as well as watching current and former students as they take their next steps towards becoming professional pilots.

If I had one piece of advice, it is this: Never stop chasing your dreams. I chose to do a major career shift in my mid-30s, from a safe career that I had known for most of my adult life, not knowing what the future would hold for me. The support and training I received from TFT is what made those dreams a reality.