Arkansas-native Jonathan Neal’s love affair with flying began when he was in the third grade. Now the 32-year-old uses his experience to help local kids achieve their dreams in the aviation industry.
Neal and his business partner Wayne Tonkins formed Outreach Aviation, a nonprofit based in Prince George’s County, which provides youth with unique educational opportunities in science, tech, engineering and math (STEM) fields. They met after Neal moved to the area for better job opportunities and Tonkins was a student at A.T.C. Flight Training Center in Fort Washington.
Tonkins needed help learning how to fly complex larger aircraft and Neal was happy to help. The two became fast friends and the brainchild for their organization was born.
“We wanted to give kids something to look forward to as far as different career paths,” Neal said. “If they choose to go into aviation we can pretty much take them from start to finish whether they choose to fly or want to be a mechanic.”
One of the larger challenges facing the group is the fact that there is a void of African Americans in the aviation industry.
Only about one percent of all pilots are Black, a statistic that Neal hopes to see changed with his organization.
“You don’t hear about Black pilots too often. When you do hear about Black pilots the first people they associate you with is the Tuskegee Airmen,” Neal said. “They are the ones that opened the doors for myself. However, as far as aviation goes, people automatically say ‘oh you got to go to the military to learn how to fly a plane.’ That’s actually not true.”
“It’s an expensive field to get into, but it’s very rewarding if you decide to take it on as a career,” he said.
For his work Neal has been recognized by the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). In September, the CBC invited him to a private screening of” Red Tails” – making him one of the first people to see the film.
Neal said people can learn how to fly at small airfields across the country, but it’s not cheap. He says that it’s a small price to pay as his career has afforded him the opportunity to fly all over the country.
It’s not only a springboard into the aviation industry though. Neal says the group provides opportunities for the kids to venture into other fields as well.
“If we have a student that wants to be a heart doctor and he needs to go to Memphis to meet a heart surgeon. We can use our planes to take them to meet those individual,” he said. “It’s not just geared toward aviation even though that is the nucleus of the program.”
However, the foundation of the program is to supplement what kids are getting in the classroom. They said there is nothing more important in the to them than making sure kids are getting the proper education.
“It’s about the grades. That’s first and foremost,” Neal said.
“It’s about helping the students achieve in school.”
