LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The CEO of the Las Vegas Flight Academy is being honored with a prestigious award in recognition of 50 years of safe flying. He's also trying to pay it forward, and help other minorities enter a field that desperately needs more pilots — and more diversity.
Ron Kelly has always had a love of flying. As a kid, he dreamed of one day soaring among the stars as an astronaut.
"I really wanted to be an astronaut. My dad was a spacecraft designer. He designed all the antennas for the Apollos. So I just knew what I wanted to do," Kelly said.
But after learning he was partially colorblind, he turned his focus to flying among the clouds.
"My favorite place to be is at an airport. I just love being around planes," Kelly said.
He began flying sailplanes in Southern California at the age of 14, later earning his private pilot's license. In 2004, he became part of the business venture that built an eight bay, 38,000 square-foot, full motion flight simulation complex for Pan Am International Flight Academy in Henderson, NV. In 2020, Kelly bought out the assets of Pan Am’s Las Vegas operation, which then became the Las Vegas Flight Academy.
The academy houses several multi-million dollar simulators, that truly emulate the experience of being in a cockpit and flying.
"They'll come in this thing and practice doom and gloom. They'll practice engine failures, hydrolic failures, bird strikes, wind shear, lightning strikes. When they're done here, they're really prepared to go out and fly the plane and be really safe," Kelly said.
When it comes to safety, few have a record like his. On Feb. 24, 2024, Kelly was awarded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) with the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award, in recognition of 50 years of safe flying.
"It's pretty cool to get it during Black History Month, no question," Kelly said, as he reminisced on the barriers his father had to break.
It's an honor not many pilots get — let aloneBlack pilots, who make up less than 4% of all U.S. commercial airline pilots, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
There's a major need for more diversity — and more pilots in general, as airlines face major shortages. That's why most major airlines have abandoned the 4-year degree requirement and added signing bonuses, increased pay, and boosted benefits.
To help address the shortages and the lack of diversity, Kelly recently publicly announced his nonprofit, the Minority Pilot Advancement Foundation.
"There is a huge demand for new pilots and that is why we started the foundation, to help bring more minorities and women into aviation," Kelly said.
He said one of the first students they've sponsored is undergoing training and certification.
"What we're trying to do at the foundation is to pay for everything. So the barrier to entry is gone," Kelly said.
His hope is that by paying for the training for these initial students, they'll pay it forward when they get their sign-on bonus from their first commercial pilot job, and donate to the foundation to ensure they can carry on this mission of helping others take flight.
"Sharing that love with others just makes me happy," he said.
He hopes the foundation will spur real change in the lives of minorities and women, and help them create generational wealth for their families, as well as broaden their own horizons.
"People just don't know what's out there. They don't know what's possible for them. To share that with them — it's a blessing," Kelly said.
Kelly urgesthose who are interested in a career in aviation, or in helping Kelly's foundation carry out its mission, to reach out.
