When Tyrus Joseforsky was a young boy, he got excited taking long-distance vacations with his family. But it wasn’t because he wanted to arrive early, it was to spend time on the plane.
“I couldn’t wait for our vacation to end so I could get back on a plane,” he said.
Since he was 5 years old, he said, he has dreamed of becoming a commercial airline pilot, all while playing baseball, his other passion, through high school. He played for Hobart High School, only missing two games while setting a few records and helping lead his team to its first sectional title in 25 years, he said.
“After I graduated, I had to make the difficult choice to either continue playing baseball or chase my aviation dream,” said Joseforsky, who graduated from high school in 2014. “No school would let me do both because both are so demanding and have zero tolerance for not being there.”
Joseforsky took his aviation dream to the nationally renowned Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla. But the flight path to earn his wings hit heavy turbulence early on.
“It was really tough at first being so far away from home. I was very close to transferring back home two months into my freshman year,” he recalled.
And then he attended a career fair at the university, where commercial airline representatives were eager to recruit young maverick students like him due to a commercial pilot shortage.
“The turnover for commercial pilots is tremendous right now,” said Kenneth Byrnes, assistant dean at the College of Aviation at Embry-Riddle and chairman of its flight training department.
According to Boeing Airlines, roughly 90 new pilots a day will need to be ready for service over the next two decades to replenish the ranks of retiring pilots for commercial airlines in this country.
“At the regional level, some airlines have had to cancel flights or not take on new contracts that they couldn’t fulfill due to lack of pilots,” Byrnes said.
Plus, mandated retirement age for pilots is 65, prompting 3,000 to 4,000 pilots each year to retire, with numbers expected to skyrocket in 2020.
“So I knew this is where I needed to be,” Joseforsky told me this past summer while finishing up his university career.
Joseforsky had to make personal sacrifices to speed up his graduation date, ejecting his social life to get in as many flight training hours as possible. He was able to complete all his requirements in 500 training days, cutting in half the university’s estimated timeline.
“He is a driven young man and has incredible potential,” said Gary Carter, assistant professor of aeronautical science at the university, who worked personally with Joseforsky.
Joseforsky also worked part-time as a flight instructor at the university, flying roughly 750 hours in just nine months while taking 16 credit hours each semester as a full-time student.
“This was rough, taking classes all day and then working all night, but it was worth it,” he said.
“Tyrus came to work every day with a positive attitude and was always willing to go the extra mile for his students,” said Christopher Machado, Team 5 manager for the university’s flight department. “Based on what Tyrus has showed me, his career in aviation is much more than a job to him. It is a passion.”
Joseforsky’s only problem was that he couldn’t get a job at a commercial airline, even after completing 1,000 training hours, because he still needed to graduate from Embry-Riddle. He chose to again make a sacrifice in his life. He completed 20 credit hours this summer so he could graduate in three years and begin his pilot career this fall.
“I walked into Embry-Riddle without a lick of flight experience,” he admitted. “But I was eager to learn everything I needed to know. To get through this training to become a pilot, it’s got to be something you really want to do in life or you.”
Holly Starkey, from Eagle Aircraft in Valparaiso, said Joseforsky told her that he was determined to graduate early and build flight hours as quickly as possible.
“That is what young pilots need to do to get to the airlines,” she said. “I knew from the moment I met Tyrus he would be successful. He is ambitious, driven and personable, but also friendly and humble. I have no doubt he will move up the ranks quickly as an airline pilot.”
He built flying hours by visiting Eagle Aircraft many times during his summers and college breaks.
“He would fly family and friends around,” she said.
On Aug. 26, he posted on his social media sites: “Never in a million years did I think I’d be walking out of Embry-Riddle after three years. Bring on the big boy jets and the passengers!”
Joseforsky then accepted a job offer with Indianapolis-based Republic Airlines, where he began training in early September. He’s been training in Indy and also in St. Louis, living out of a hotel, which will be all too familiar in his future career.
He expects to receive his airline transport certificate in early November after his formal “check ride” with Republic, where he will serve as first officer. The firm’s flights are contracted by the major airlines, such as United, Delta and American.
“It’s our planes painted with their colors,” Joseforsky said, noting his aspirations to someday fly for one of those major airlines.
His piloting career will officially take off from O’Hare International Airport, where he will be based, allowing him to live in Northwest Indiana.
“Growing up here, I never thought I would be a 21-year-old airline pilot,” said Joseforsky, who even looks like a pilot with his good looks, cropped haircut and dark sunglasses. “But that dream has become a reality. I can’t wait for my first official flight.”
jdavich@post-trib.com
Twitter@jdavich
