From Roommates to Runway: How Two LIFT Academy® Alumni Reunited in the Flight Deck

Earlier this summer, a schedule change set the stage for an unexpected reunion on the flight deck of a Republic Embraer jet. Captain Abe Ford and First Officer James Hashley had crossed paths before. A lot. The two met at LIFT Academy, became roommates during training, and spent countless hours studying, flying, and supporting each other’s journeys from aspiring aviators to professional pilots.

But until this summer, they had never flown a trip together at Republic.

James marked the occasion with a quick photo and a post to social media that proves the old saying about a picture being worth a thousand words is still true: The smiles in that picture tell a story of years of shared history and a friendship forged in flight school that’s now been brought full circle in the skies.

A Shared Dream

Both Abe and James grew up dreaming of spaceflight and careers as astronauts, rocketing out into space or steering the space shuttle in its orbit. While their dreams of space receded over time, the pull of aviation never went away.

For Abe, who grew up in Colorado, it was his mom who nudged him toward taking flying seriously as a career.

“My mom said, ‘Well, you’ve always wanted to be a pilot, why don’t you do that as a career?’” For whatever reason, it never dawned on me to make a career out of it.”

Abe earned a degree from Thomas Edison State University and began working in IT while earning his private pilot’s license on the side. But progress was slow. “I really needed to find

a place to just train for the airlines,” he said. “Where that’s all I do.” LIFT Academy offered exactly that, and in 2019, he moved to Indiana to start training full-time.

James’s path was strikingly similar. Born in Michigan and raised in multiple states, he also landed in IT, eventually becoming Associate IT director at Western Nebraska Community College. His father, a private pilot, rekindled James’s interest in flying when the two began flying together in small aircraft.

“My dad got his private pilot license before I was born – he thought he’d be a missionary pilot – but stopped flying when he had kids. I’d see pictures of him in front of these old Taylorcraft airplanes and always thought it was cool.”

When James learned about the growing pilot shortage and LIFT’s direct pathway to Republic, he decided it was time to take the leap. “I saved up, transitioned carefully out of my job, and went all-in,” he said.

Meeting and Rooming

James’ and Abe’s families had a long-standing connection – Abe’s father had worked with James’s brother-in-law – but the two didn’t really know each other until LIFT.

“We met at some event, a luncheon, when I was visiting my sister and brother-in-law,” James recalled. “We pretty quickly realized we were both going to be at LIFT and then I mentioned to Abe that I had an open room in my apartment if he was looking to save money.”

The connection did more, though, than save on rent; it quickly became apparent that being roommates also paid dividends in their training.

“We’d bounce ideas off each other at night,” James said. “If I didn’t understand something, Abe could explain it, and vice versa.”

Abe agreed. “Sometimes we’d have the same instructor, and one of us would catch something the other missed. Having that constant support made training a lot easier.”

Their timelines through LIFT were different with James’s taking a more circuitous route that took him out to Phoenix for a while as a flight instructor, but their friendship endured and both ultimately made the leap to Republic.

A Surprise Pairing

James’ and Abe’s summer reunion happened the way many pairings do in airline life: by surprise and in response to operational demands.

James was mid-trip when he got a CrewLife notification about a pairing modification. He scanned his updated schedule and spotted Abe’s name as captain for his last two legs of the day. “I thought it was pretty darn cool,” he said.

Abe was on reserve in IND when his day changed, too. “Sometime that morning I checked my phone and saw James’s name. I was like, ‘Hey, that’s James! How does this happen?’”

It was the first time they’d flown together since their LIFT days.

A Challenging Day…and a Great One

Their reunion, though, happened on a day full of challenges as maintenance issues and weather delays meant hours on the ground. But rather than frustration, both pilots remember it as a highlight as their friendship and familiarity, built over years of studying and living together, made the time on the ground easier to handle.

“It was great,” James said. “We’d flown together as students, so I knew we’d get along on the flight deck and be consummate professionals who are serious about the job but still have fun. It was a tough day with maintenance and weather but we handled it together.”

Abe agreed. “It was a really nice experience, especially since I was just back from a medical leave and still feeling relatively new as a captain. Flying with someone I knew so well was really comfortable and let us focus on being a team and on doing the job.”

Looking Ahead

For both pilots, the day was a reminder of how far they’d come since those evenings studying in their shared apartment. It also underscored the purpose of LIFT Academy – to create a direct, high-quality pathway for aspiring pilots to move from the classroom to the cockpit of a Republic Airways jet.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity,” James said. “It was just a series of events that brought us together that day, and I’d love to fly with Abe again.”

Abe didn’t hesitate to agree. “That would be awesome.”

And whether or not their schedules align again anytime soon, both pilots know their careers – and their friendship – will keep them crossing paths in the skies.