Joshua Hoskins became interested in aviation at an early age. "As a 5-year-old boy on my first commercial flight, the pilot took an interest in me and allowed me to sit in the cockpit. I was so intrigued with all the buttons and lights. Working with my father and grandfather, I quickly learned I had a talent for auto mechanics. I also spent summers as a teen working with a family friend, Gifton McCreery, at Texas Helicopters. I quickly found a passion with my combined interests in aviation and mechanics. McCreery's mentorship encouraged my passion and developed a foundational understanding of respect for aviation."
At 18 he started work as a parts manager at Dalfort Aerospace before moving to Monarch Air where he earned his pilot's license. He received his bachelor's degree in aviation management from Everglades University in 2006 and worked at DFW Instruments as a technician. Then he moved to Arkansas and worked at Sharp Aviation where he completed his A&P. He started at Cirrus in mid-2014 and in 2017 was promoted to his current position as manager of field service. His current job responsibilities include support of the 7,000+ Cirrus aircraft fleet and oversight of over 200 authorized Cirrus Service Centers.
Advanced training includes avionics training from Honeywell and Garmin, maintenance training from Continental Motors, Cirrus, Hartzell Propeller, and Williams International. Hoskins belongs to Aircraft Electronics Association and regularly attends AEA and NBAA conventions along with EAA AirVenture Oshkosh.
Nominated by Paul Coldagelli, Manager, Region Field Service Managers, Cirrus Aircraft: "Josh came to Cirrus Aircraft with an A&P/IA and a PP/instrument rating. He quickly gained his commercial rating while with Cirrus Aircraft and has been flying several missions in addition to his regional field service manager duties ever since. Josh has a very diversified aviation maintenance history from commercial airline MROs to complete avionics upgrade installs to business jet maintenance, chief inspector, and finally settling in as a director of maintenance at one of Cirrus Aircraft Authorized Service Centers before joining Cirrus. This experience quickly advanced him within Cirrus to manage a team of five regional service managers that globally support over 211 Authorized Service Centers and over 7,000 Cirrus Aircraft customers. His diversified background has served himself, Cirrus Aircraft, and Cirrus customers well. He excells when troubleshooting intelligent airframe platforms like the Cirrus SR and SF series aircraft where the avionics are integrated in every system of the aircraft from spinner/radome to tail."
As for giving back to the industry, Hoskins says, "I do my best to identify individuals in which I can provide such mentoring and encouragement in aviation from taking time to notice a little boy with a sparkle in his eye when he sees an airplane to encouraging my direct reports to work toward their career goals.
"Over the years my passion for aviation has continued to grow," Hoskins says, "and I look forward to what the future holds in my development as an aviation professional and aircraft owner."
