Dane Ramsey worked with cars after graduating high school, but he quickly found the industry wasn’t for him: “Doing the same kind of job every day got a little boring. I started looking into aviation and exploring different schools, [seeing] what would work best for me financially.” Ultimately, he chose to train at PIA, with a goal of someday working at Delta.

Ramsey’s first job offer after graduating PIA was a position at Endeavor Air, the regional airline associated with Delta. A year later, he was able to interview for and accept a job with his dream employer, Delta. “It happened so quickly,” said Ramsey. “I was hoping to be at Delta in five years. I got there in a year.”

At PIA, his instructors’ help was so valuable, it led Ramsey to become the salutatorian in his class. “It was the first time in my education that I graduated in that position,” said Ramsey. “It was a great experience, we had a great class, and we all pushed each other to be the best we could be.”