Skies: Tell us a bit about your aviation story and what made you so passionate about becoming a pilot.
Gerard Mofet: My dream of becoming a pilot began at a very young age. At eight years old, I had the unforgettable opportunity to visit the cockpit on a flight to Europe. The sight of hundreds of switches and dials left me in awe, and the pilots appeared as superheroes to me. Right then and there, I knew I wanted to be just like them when I grew up.
After a school day, I would spend hours at the library, reading books on airplanes, the theory of flight, and everything related to flying. Living near a regional airport, much of my free time was spent watching airplanes take off and land. Attending airshows became my favourite summer pastime, and the release of the movie Top Gun only fueled my aviation enthusiasm.
When I was 19, I held the controls of a Cessna 152 for the first time on a familiarization FAM flight, which was a pivotal moment for me. It was a wonderful moment of realization and the beginning of a lifelong dream of becoming a pilot.
Skies: Today, you’re a captain on the Airbus A330 with a major Canadian airline. What did the path to get there look like?
Continue reading this feature interview in the April/May 2024 issue of Skies magazine.