From a fear of flying to a career in the cockpit

Sun Devil Trevor Mitchell has gone from a fear of flying to hundreds of hours in the air as an aspiring commercial pilot. Mitchell is a second-year student at ASU from San Antonio, Texas. He attends classes full time at the Polytechnic campus, studying aeronautical management technology — professional flight — on track to become a commercial airline pilot.

His dream job is to fly the Airbus A350 for Delta airlines. It accommodates up to 350 passengers and handles the longest flight in the world, from Singapore to Newark, New Jersey. The flight is 18 and a half hours nonstop.

In addition to his classes, Mitchell flies about seven hours a week through ATP Flight School, which has partnered with the ASU aviation program. Each flight session is typically around two and a half hours but can last longer depending on the destination, which can range from cities in California to El Paso, Texas. His longest flight was three and a half hours, to Palomar, Calif. His favorite destination he has flown to is Las Vegas, which was about a three-hour flight. 

“We parked the plane, got an Uber and got some Greek food… It was crazy to think that three hours ago I was at Poly, and now I’m on Fremont Street in Vegas.” 

Mitchell after passing the checkride, a test that gave him commercial pilot privileges in single-engine planes. It’s tradition to take a photo with the temporary license next to the plane you passed in.

While Mitchell grew up around planes and was used to traveling through different airports and cities with his family, he did not always have the love for flying that he has now.

“I remember throwing up in Denver when I like 9, because I was so scared to fly in the clouds. … I used to be deathly afraid of flying in the clouds or at night.”

After starting flight training, getting a pilot’s perspective and learning about the instruments used to fly, that fear has disappeared, but safety is always a top priority. 

Mitchell has been in flight training for almost two years, the first time he flew being May 4, 2018, at age 17. 

“I remember expecting that the instructor was going to do everything … but instead, he had me do it and talked me through it. … It was only 5 or 6 minutes, but afterward I said, ‘let’s keep doing this.”’

Mitchell currently has 234 hours of flight time, out of the 1,000 he needs to become a commercial pilot. He expects to complete all 1,000 by May 2022 and will have fulfilled the requirements necessary to achieve his goal.

Learn more about ASU’s aviation program, and keep your eye on the skies; you might see Mitchell.