Sometimes taking the road less travelled by can make all the difference.

My name is Stephen Kennedy, and I am a DCU Graduate of Aviation Management with Pilot Studies and now a First Officer on the ATR72 with Emerald Airlines. I am delighted to take the opportunity to share my journey to the Flight Deck with you.

When I left Secondary School in 2012, I was very fortunate in having the knowledge of what I wanted to do. However, I wasn’t exactly sure on the correct path to take in achieving this goal. Becoming a Commercial Pilot was always a dream of mine, but the cost of training at the time was unfortunately unaffordable and Ireland was also experiencing a deep recession with very few job prospects at the time. I decided to undertake the B.Sc. Aviation Management degree from DCU and this is where my journey began.

One of the most enjoyable and worthwhile aspects of the degree program is the opportunity to carry out an internship with an aviation company in year 3 as part of the INTRA internship program. I was fortunate to do my internship with Stobart Air, an Irish Regional Airline, which provided me with the necessary aviation experience and exposure to aid with my studies. I was also fortunate to gain full-time employment during my internship with Stobart Air and held various additional roles with them in customer care, operations, and supervisory roles after graduating from DCU.

I was delighted to be offered a position in 2018, on a Pilot mentored cadet program, in Atlantic Flight Training Academy in Cork. The initial training program allows you to gain a Private Pilot License (PPL), Commercial Pilot License (CPL), and Multi-Engine Rating as well as the associated instrument rating. At the time, I also had to undertake 14 theory examinations (ATPLs) as part of gaining my license.
I graduated from flight school in March 2020, which unfortunately was also the start of the Covid19 Pandemic which stalled my career. During the pandemic, I had the opportunity to move to Malta for 6 months where I worked with the Private Jet Operator, Vistajet, in their crewing department.

In January 2022, as the pandemic restrictions began to be lifted my aviation career began to take off again. I joined Ireland’s newest Airline Emerald Airlines and worked in helping establish the Operations Department prior to the airline’s first flight. Emerald Airlines is the exclusive operator of the Aer Lingus Regional Franchise with flights to destinations across Ireland, the UK, France, Channel Islands.
Finally, only a few short months later, I was offered the position of First Officer with Emerald Airlines, and so concluded a 10-year journey to the Flight Deck. As part of the initial training, I undertook a 6-week long type training course, learning to fly the ATR72-600 aircraft in a simulator. In January 2023, I flew the aircraft for the first time, completing 6 take off and landings without passengers, and finally one afternoon in February, I undertook my first passenger flight to Southampton.

The last few weeks have been quite busy and surreal in many ways, and full of pinch-myself moments. Making a dream become a reality, especially after so many hurdles has been quite rewarding and fulfilling in so many ways. Some dreams and journeys take longer to become reality for others, but as Robert Frost said in “The Road not taken” – sometimes taking the road “less travelled by” can make “all the difference”.