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Class Notes: Zeke Elias ('13)

Ezequiel Elias Zeke Has a Passion for Flying…and Success

Zeke Elias (’13) has always been infatuated with flying. “I have a passion for airplanes—for anything related to aviation.” A double major in business management and aviation management, with a minor in flight operations, Zeke says Westminster helped turn his dream of pursuing a career in aviation into reality. During the summer before his senior year, he obtained a flight ops summer internship in Chicago with SkyWest Airlines, which turned into another internship during his senior year in Salt Lake. After graduating from Westminster, Zeke worked as an intern in flight safety with Jet Blue, which then led to a career in inflight quality and performance with Jet Blue.

While Zeke’s experiences at SkyWest and Jet Blue gave him excellent insights into the USS airline industry, he was longing for some international airline experience. “I told myself I was going to take a leap of faith to see what I could do.” In June 2014 Zeke did just that: moving to London to work as a market pricing analyst with Virgin Atlantic, focusing on US, Canada, and Mexico markets from the UK.

While at Westminster, Zeke was heavily involved on campus—working at the Concierge Desk, in the START Center, and as a hall monitor and resident advisor. On top of that, Zeke was as an aviation senator for Associated Students of Westminster College, a Flight Team member, a participant in the Griffins for the Greater Good Spiritual Life Club, and a Humane Society of Utah volunteer. While nearly 5,000 miles away, Zeke says, “Westminster is my home away from home, even today as an alum.”

As for his future, Zeke says he could never see himself not working for an airline: “I think it’s just the excitement of knowing it’s such a massive manmade machine flying through the skies at 40,000 feet—and the fact that we, at the flight deck and in the cabin, are able to make that happen.”

 

 

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The Westminster Review is Westminster University’s bi-annual alumni magazine that is distributed to alumni and community members. Each issue aims to keep alumni updated on campus current events and highlights the accomplishments of current students, professors, and Westminster alum.

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