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Kyle Craig grew up in Scarborough, Tobago dreaming of a career in aerospace. He would carry his friends to the Crown Point International Airport to see the “majestic, massive, metal creatures”. After a lot of personal and familial sacrifice, he was able to move to the US to study Aerospace Engineering. Since graduating, he has worked for Pratt and Whitney and United Airlines. This is the journey of the child with big dreams to the adult with big responsibilities in the aviation world.

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My life in Tobago was simple and consisted of school, church and home. As a child, I always felt a little different from my four siblings and even my friends. This, I would later discover was me trying to balance the struggle between the left and right sides of my brain. I loved to draw, colour and design but I was also equally fascinated by the rules and rigidity of Physics and Mathematics.

Education was a top priority for my family. I attended Bishop’s High School, the best secondary school on the island. There, I developed a love for aerospace and music performance. I give credit to my teachers in that great institution for helping to lead me to a path that encompassed my passions.

“I was completely enamoured by these majestic, massive, metal creatures”

I have vivid memories of going to the Crown Point Airport as a child to watch planes land and take off. As a teenager, I started dragging my friends with me so that they too can experience what I felt. I was completely enamoured by these majestic, massive, metal creatures that would visit the island and fly over my house on their way to Europe or North America. I knew that I wanted to do something related to these metal birds. When I was 15 years old, I researched what subjects I needed to study in order to get involved in Aerospace Engineering and with encouragement from my parents, who truly believed that “you can do anything”, I completed Cambridge A-levels in Math, Additional Math, Physics and Chemistry. This was one of the hardest exam periods of my life because of the limited resources we had. However, my parents were committed. They went as far as hiring a Chemistry teacher from Trinidad to teach us on the weekends because our Chemistry teacher left abruptly. My classmates and I helped each other through all the long hours of studying and extra lessons. I really didn’t think I could do it.

“Talk about mental and emotional stress!”

I was accepted to Florida Institute of Technology to pursue my degree in Aerospace Engineering. I worked three and sometimes even four jobs before adding Mechanical Engineering to my plate. Given my financial situation at the time, I became a Resident Assistant (RA), primarily to help cover the costs for room and board. Being an RA was a very fulfilling experience but it was quite demanding at times. While working as an RA, one of my co-workers and fellow student, died by suicide in the residence halls. We also experienced three hurricanes (including Katrina) in one 7-week period. During that time, the RAs had to cook meals for the students who remained on campus. Talk about mental and emotional stress! I also worked in the Office of the Dean of the College of Engineering and the Dean of Student Affairs to cover some of my expenses. Needless to say, I was busy, trying to balance school work and the financial demands.

“I could only afford potatoes and packs of ramen”

I didn’t have the fun, social college experience that most people usually would enjoy as I had to focus on being financially stable while excelling academically. It wasn’t easy and many times, I seriously considered quitting. My lowest point was one summer when I found work at two popular retail clothing stores and a flooring store. I was subletting a living room (yes, a living room!) from a friend and I borrowed another friend’s car to be able to get to my jobs on time. For four months, all I could have afforded were potatoes and packs of ramen. I am however really grateful to my college friends and siblings for helping me across the line and for those who prevented me from quitting despite my challenges.

“The peripatetic engineer”

I started working at my current employer, Pratt & Whitney one week after college classes ended. Pratt & Whitney is one of three major jet engine manufacturers in the world and in my very biased opinion, the best! I spent the first 10 years of my career as an engineer, where I was afforded so many amazing opportunities. With the help of my professional mentors and coaches, I have been able to travel all over the world to support the development, testing and field operation of jet engines; flying around northern Canada on a Boeing 747 flying testbed, ground testing in Florida, aircraft performance testing in Japan and even engine icing testing in Thompson Manitoba (The worst possible place for this island boy). My mentor at the time, Bob, called me “the peripatetic engineer” because I was always off somewhere for work. I credit him with being instrumental in establishing myself as a credible engineer.

“My amazing boss Dag, at United allowed me to fulfil many bucket list items”

In 2014/2015, I was afforded the unique opportunity to work at the headquarters of United Airlines in Chicago. Being an aviation geek, this was the coolest of cool to me. My amazing boss Dag, at United allowed me to fulfil many bucket list items and he exposed me to so much regarding the industry. In fact, my experience at United Airlines was somewhat of a springboard for me to leave engineering and focus on Pratt’s customers and the commercial airlines sector. I became a Customer Fleet Director initially responsible for airlines in Asia-Pacific and subsequently the Indian-subcontinent. This job focused on direct customer satisfaction for all aspects and resolution of technical issues.

“There are many situations where I am viewed as the “big black guy”

While living and working in the US, I have been fortunate enough to not have been directly impacted by overt acts of racism. There are however many situations where I am viewed as the “big black guy” and I have witnessed everything: from people crossing the street so they do not have to walk next to me or people not wanting to sit next to me in public places because again, I am 6’2’ and black. Because of these experiences, I have taken it upon myself to be more active in education and awareness to create spaces where people of different races and backgrounds can have “uncomfortable conversations” with a view to facilitate change.

I have a lot to be thankful for but there is still a lot of work ahead of me. I have realised more than ever that my personal goal is to have the most positive impact on as many people as possible. Most recently, I became involved with the A Better Chance program as a Resident Director/Tutor. Through this program, promising minority high school students are placed in the best school systems in the country and are provided with educational, financial and other support to ensure academic success and college acceptance. This has been one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life because it opened my eyes to many of the systematic and societal challenges faced by black people in America and inspired me to become more involved in the promotion of quality education in minority communities.

“I am indebted to my amazing family members and friends”

My mother, who was a Math teacher, was instrumental in helping me get to where I am today. Without her patience and persistence, I am not sure if I would have even passed my A Level subjects. My three older siblings taught me a lot about college life, the associated struggles and how they overcame them. Living in a foreign country, I was also very lucky to find many friends that I now consider family. So many of them have helped me throughout my career and life in general. I am indebted to them.

“There is a need for more intentional mentoring”

While I had that strong and committed support from my family, I never had a formal mentor as a child. I, however, had a lot of inspiration. I spent my time observing adults around me and asking them about their lives or experiences. But, I do think that there is a need for more intentional mentoring of young black men as they enter the teenage and young adult years. Today we have social media and the internet that provides easy access to mentors and role models but we need to be more intentional about ensuring there is someone that every young black man (and woman) can go to for advice/feedback/a listening ear or at a minimum, someone they can look up to. Given all the professional mentorship and coaching I received over the years, I too have made the decision to pay it forward by making myself available as a mentor. I really hope that I can do more for young people in Tobago and even Trinidad, in the future.

“With youth comes flexibility and time to recover from any missteps”

My advice for anyone who is about to decide on a career is to ensure that when you wake up in the morning you are, at a minimum, somewhat excited to go to work. Do what brings you happiness but remember, with youth comes flexibility and time to “recover” from any missteps or unplanned diversion so go after your dreams and desires. Lastly, learn to adapt as change is the only constant. Understand that even though you have a plan, it is almost guaranteed to be changed.

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As Kyle said, change is the only constant. Ten months ago, he returned to Pratt & Whitney as the Program Campaigns Manager, working with the Sales and Marketing teams. In this role, he works with both internal and external customers to ensure consistency in strategy across sales campaigns: in essence, the go-between between engineering – the air framer – sales/marketing. He also acts as a brand ambassador for the company during entry into service of their products.