Carlos Orrego’s aviation aspirations took flight with a rocket as a boy.
“My father took me to see a space shuttle launch when I was a young boy and ever since I saw that beautiful machine take flight, I knew my heart belonged to the aviation industry,” recounts Orrego.
In adulthood, his aviation career began with a maintenance apprenticeship at a flight-school at Miami's Opa-Locka Executive Airport. From there, Orrego landed what he considered at the time his dream job – working for American Airlines at Miami International Airport. Orrego worked for two years at American Airlines when the events of 9/11 happened.
“Things quickly came to a standstill in my life as I was one of hundreds of employees who were laid off as a result. I bounced around from maintenance facilities for a few years never truly feeling like I had a real home in Aviation. I ended up working at one of the oldest airlines in the world called Chalks Ocean Airways in FLL. My passion for aviation came back here as the job was very exciting and fast paced. I loved working on the Grumman Mallards and always loved the thrill of flying in those magnificent old birds,” Orrego said. “I spent just over a year there.”
Chalks, though, would go on to shut its doors shortly after Orrego came onboard, leading Orrego to apply to what has become his “aviation home” – Banyan Air Service at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport.
“I stared at Banyan as a technician and quickly climbed through the ranks. I spent seven years on the floor working on many different types of airframes rapidly gaining experience on so many aircraft to include: King Airs, Citations, Hawkers, Beechjets, Pilatus, Falcons, Challengers, Lears and many more. A positioned opened up for a turbine maintenance service manager which I applied to and did end up getting. I have been working as one of our service managers in the maintenance department since then. In March 2020, I will have been working here for a total of 14 years,” Orrego described.
And Orrego’s work ethic extends beyond the walls of Banyan Air. He’s a member of NBAA and SFBAA, attends as many conferences as he can, studied aircraft maintenance at Broward College, all helping him to excel at Banyan Air.
“Carlos is committed to his job and his customers. He communicates and works with his customers, the director of maintenance, crew leader and inspector so everyone has the same expectation. Managing different personalities and expectations can be a challenge and being a service manager is one of the hardest jobs because if something goes wrong, you are the one in the middle between the maintenance team and the customer. Carlos negotiates difficult situations and gets them resolved in a professional manner. He works diligently on maintaining relationships while gaining new customers and focusing on delivering a quality project, on-time and on-budget,” said Nancy Bouvier, director of marketing at Banyan Air Services, on Orrego’s Next Gen nomination.
“This is by far the most challenging and yet rewarding position I have ever had in my life and wouldn’t trade it for anything. I can truly say I am passionate about my career and am so grateful for how I have been blessed throughout my journey,” Orrego reflects. “The possibilities are endless in aviation, no matter what field you decide to go into. There is always somewhere you can find a home you truly feel like you belong in as long as you keep on pushing forward.”
