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New York, USA — He was only three years old when he had his first encounter with an aeroplane, but it would leave an indelible impact on his young mind and later help define his life for a career in aviation.

Now, 35 years later, First Officer Toray Bailey is not only an integral part of United Airlines flight crew, piloting its Boeing 787 wide-bodied aircraft — one of the largest in the world — to many countries across the globe, but is also a motivational career speaker at schools and colleges.

What also makes Bailey special is that he holds a certificate as an aircraft maintenance technician — a skill few pilots have acquired.

Pre-COVID-19, United Airlines was responsible for transporting in excess of 6.44 million passengers across the world in 2019, making it the fourth-largest carrier by passenger load. The airline operates approximately 4,900 flights a day to 362 airports across six continents.

In an interview with the Jamaica Observer from his New Jersey home on Sunday, the St Ann-born Bailey recalled his first encounter with aeroplanes at Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, St James.

“I had gone there with my father to welcome my mother back from an overseas trip, but the flight was delayed, and so I was able to get a good long look at the airplanes as they arrived and departed.

“It was not a normal sight to see a plane in the Moneague area, where we lived, as that area was somewhat outside the normal route for airplanes, so the experience was fascinating,” he said.

Not long after that, Bailey said, his parents migrated to the United States, settling in Queens, close to the John F Kennedy International Airport, where hundreds of flights would land and take off daily.

He said that those frequent sightings would help solidify his interest in aviation, and that nothing else motivated nor inspired him more as he pursued his early education and a career path while attending junior high school.

With the New York school system specifically designed to offer students a specific career training at the high school level, Bailey said he decided to attend Aviation High School located in Long Island City in Queens.

“Travelling to and from school was tough,” he explained, as it meant using a bus and two different trains. “It was particularly brutal during the winter months,” but he was determined to fulfil his dream.

He graduated with a certificate as an aircraft maintenance technician. It was then on to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, where he gained a bachelor's degree in aeronautical sciences and his pilot licence.

While attending university, the future pilot would also perform mechanical work on aeroplanes of all make and designs. Fresh out of university, Bailey landed jobs with JetBlue Airways and later with Delta, as an aeroplane mechanic.

In order to secure the required flying hours to become a certified commuter pilot, Bailey flew for a government contractor in California, as well as for Air Wisconsin.

His work as a pilot has taken him to “virtually every corner of the world — to countries in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and South America”.

Bailey says he is now looking forward to piloting an aircraft to the Sangster International, where his journey all started.