From Childhood Dream to Cape Air First Officer: Adam Ahmed’s Journey to the Skies
Celebrating more than 100 LIFT graduates in the Cape Air Program
LIFT Academy has a unique partnership with Cape Air, which allows qualified LIFT graduates to fly for Cape Air and then become a First Officer with Republic Airways. LIFT just reached a significant milestone, celebrating 100 graduates in the Cape Air program.
Nicolas Mendez and Adam Ahmed are the 99th and 100th LIFT Academy graduates joining the Cape Air program. Both graduates are now earning flight hours taking passengers to Cape Air destinations. Read about Nick’s journey in our next blog post.
For Adam Ahmed, a forgotten childhood dream was reignited when he least expected. As a high school student with a part-time job, he found himself talking to an Air Force veteran at the end of a shift one night. The conversation reminded him how much he loved to fly with his family as a child and how he had given up on his goal of becoming a pilot due to financial constraints. Three years later, Adam has graduated from LIFT and is beginning his tenure at Cape Air, which will eventually lead to a career with Republic Airways.
“I moved around a lot as a child,” said Adam. “I lived in Arizona, Las Vegas, and India, so my family would take long, international flights. Every time I boarded the airplane, I would talk to the pilots and flight attendants. During the long flights, they would let me sit in the flight deck and show me how things worked. I even asked the flight attendants if I could help collect trash. I didn’t care what I was doing, I just loved being part of the crew.”
He began flight training with a Part 141 school but was disappointed in the lack of flight time he was gaining. He switched his training to LIFT Academy in Myrtle Beach and began to see his career take off.
“I chose LIFT because the path was clear – expectations and milestones were clearly outlined,” he said. “It’s important for me to have job security, and the fact that I could join the Cape Air program and then have a guaranteed job as a pilot with Republic was the key deciding factor.”
Now that he has graduated from LIFT, he is excited about this next step with Cape Air.
“I actually get to exercise my privileges as a commercial pilot and fly passengers around,” said Adam. “I’ll be based in the Caribbean, and I’ll be island hopping. I never thought I’d be able to do that.”
Adam hopes to one day become a Captain on wide-body jets, flying internationally and coming full circle from his dreams as a child.
“I love traveling. It’s in my blood,” he said. “Flying never gets old. Even when I was doing my time building flights at LIFT, it never got old. It’s the view from the airplane. It’s the same sky. It’s the same clouds. But it never gets old.”
Ready to start your journey to a rewarding career? Visit the Flight Programs page to learn more about the Cape Air JumpStart Pilot Pathway and other programs offered through LIFT Academy.
