Experience

Airline Executive. Training Captain.
Check Airman. Founder.

Five decades of line flying, executive leadership, pilot training and evaluation, regulatory compliance, and aviation consulting across FAA and ICAO environments. The record of a career built entirely from within the operation.

At a Glance
Currently Flying
Boeing 737 Classic / NG · Boeing 757 · Boeing 767
Training Captain and Check Airman, Kalitta Charters
Total Flight Time
20,000+ hours · 17,000+ as Pilot in Command
Years as a Pilot
52 years
Airline Operations
37 years
Training, Checking & Evaluating
35 years
Regulatory Environment
FAA · ICAO · Part 121 / 135 / 142 · International
Executive Roles Held
Chief Executive Officer · Chief Operating Officer · Vice President, Training & Flight Standards · Director of Training · Manager of Regulatory Compliance
Medical
FAA First Class
Professional Profile

Captain Schoofs is a currently active airline training captain and check airman whose career spans five decades of line flying, airline operations, pilot training and evaluation, regulatory compliance, and executive leadership across FAA and ICAO environments.

His record covers both ends of an airline: the flight deck and the simulator on one side, and the certificate, the training department, and the executive suite on the other. He has served as Chief Executive Officer of an airline in Mali, Chief Operating Officer of an airline in Ghana, Vice President of Training and Flight Standards, Director of Training and Flight Standards at two carriers, and Manager of Regulatory Compliance at Delta Air Lines.

That combination matters for a senior operational role. Decisions about training budgets, crew staffing, maintenance deferrals, and schedule pressure are made at the executive level — but their consequences arrive at the aircraft. Captain Schoofs has occupied both positions and understands the transmission between them.

He remains current and operationally relevant. He flies, instructs, and conducts checks today on the B737, B757, and B767. Despite extensive executive experience, his stated professional preference remains hands-on training, checking, and evaluating pilots.

"The common thread throughout the career is responsibility: accepting the trust placed in aviation professionals and ensuring that operational judgment remains worthy of it."
Career by the Numbers
20,000+ Total Flight Hours
17,000+ Hours as Pilot in Command
7,180 Hours of Flight
Instruction Given
8,588 Simulator Hours
Current Status
Training Captain & Check Airman
Kalitta Charters · November 2022 — Present
Currently active as Training Captain and Check Airman. FAA First Class Medical. Conducting simulator instruction, proficiency checks, and line checks across the Boeing narrowbody and widebody fleet.
B-737 Classic B-737 NG B-757 B-767
Flight Time Detail
Total20,000+
Pilot in Command17,000+
Multi-Engine Fixed-Wing19,378
Turbojet7,289
Turboprop4,855
Helicopter1,473
Single-Engine Fixed-Wing1,350
Actual Instrument6,193
Night1,430
Flight Instruction Given7,180
Simulator8,588
Evaluator363
Career History
Nov 2022 — Present
Training Captain & Check Airman
Kalitta Charters
Ypsilanti, Michigan

Currently active as Training Captain and Check Airman. Simulator instruction, proficiency checks, and line checks across the Boeing narrowbody and widebody fleet.

B-737 ClassicB-737 NGB-757B-767
Jan 2006 — Present
President & Chief Executive Officer
World Aviator Group Inc.
Atlanta, Georgia

Founded and leads World Aviator Group, a global aviation consulting and development firm. Air-carrier certification and training consulting across Africa, Asia, Australia, and the Americas. Captain, Training Captain, Check Airman, and Examiner on B-737, B-757, B-767, and DC-9 / MD-80. Continuous since 2006; overlaps several salaried positions listed below.

Sep 2017 — Jan 2023
Pilot · Training Captain · Manager of Regulatory Compliance
Delta Air Lines
Atlanta, Georgia

Held multiple roles within Delta over a six-year tenure, combining active line flying and training responsibilities with a regulatory compliance management function overseeing airline certificate areas and authority interface.

Apr 2015 — Present
Founder
XPro Jet Charters
Atlanta, Georgia
Jan 2016 — Dec 2016
Director of Training & Flight Standards
Dynamic Airways
Greensboro, North Carolina

Director of Training and Flight Standards. B-767 Instructor.

May 2014 — Dec 2015
Chief Executive Officer
Imperial Airlines
Bamako, Mali

Full airline P&L and operational command as Chief Executive Officer. Held executive and accountable management responsibility for an airline operating within an ICAO regulatory framework across West Africa.

Apr 2010 — Feb 2014
Chief Operating Officer
Pison Airways Ltd.
Accra, Ghana

Chief Operating Officer with full operational accountability. B-737 qualified. Managed airline operations, crew, training, and regulatory compliance within a Ghanaian ICAO-regulated environment.

B-737
May 2005 — Jan 2014
Vice President, Training & Flight Standards
Falcon Air Express
Miami, Florida

Led training and flight standards across a nine-year tenure as Vice President. Active as Pilot, Instructor, and Check Airman throughout.

Jun 2006 — Jan 2007
Training Captain
Boeing / Alteon Training
Miami, Florida

Training Captain on the B-737 NG for Boeing's airline training division.

B-737 NG
Nov 2004 — Jan 2007
Training Captain · Check Airman · TCE
Aero Services
Miami, Florida

Training Captain, Check Airman, and Training Center Evaluator (TCE) authorization held across the MD-80 series and B-737 fleet.

MD-81MD-82MD-88B-737 ClassicB-737 NG
Jul 2002 — Oct 2004
Director of Training · Ground & Simulator Instructor · Line Captain
Southeast Airlines
Largo, Florida
MD-82MD-88DC-9
Prior to 2002
Early Career — Initial Training, Part 135 & Regional Operations
Multiple Operators

Approximately 28 years covering initial flight training and CFI years, early Part 135 and regional airline operations, and line flying on EMB-110, EMB-120, DHC-8, and Jetstream 3100. Helicopter time accumulated throughout. Record to be completed.

EMB-110EMB-120DHC-8Jetstream 3100
Certificates, Ratings & Type Ratings

Certificates & Ratings

  • Airline Transport Pilot
  • Commercial — Instrument · Single-Engine Land · Multi-Engine Land · Helicopter
  • Certified Flight Instructor (CFI)
  • Instrument Instructor (CFII)
  • Multi-Engine Instructor (MEI)
  • Helicopter Instructor (HI)
  • FAA First Class Medical — Current

Type Ratings

B-737 B-757 B-767 DC-9 / MD-80 DHC-8 EMB-110 EMB-120 Jetstream 3100

Instructor / Examiner Authority

  • TRI / TRE — DC-9 / MD-80 · B-737 · B-757 · B-767
  • FAA Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE)
  • Check Airman — multiple certificates
Instructor, Check Airman & Evaluator

Training and evaluating pilots has been the centre of gravity of this career — 35 years of it, and the work he returns to by choice. He treats the instructor's role not as the delivery of information but as the development of judgment, discipline, situational awareness, crew effectiveness, and professional responsibility.

"I will never sign off a pilot that I would not put my own family in the airplane with."

Regulatory standards establish required performance. The evaluator's responsibility is to apply those standards fairly and consistently while recognising that a signature ultimately places trust in another pilot's judgment. His debriefing style is conversational and diagnostic — he asks the pilot to reconstruct what was seen, understood, decided, and missed. The objective is not merely to identify an error, but to help the pilot understand the decision path that produced it.

Education
1993 — 1995
Master of Science — Industrial Psychology
University of Tampa · Tampa, Florida

The graduate work in industrial psychology is directly load-bearing on the training career: crew resource management, human factors, instructor development, standardisation, and the assessment of pilot performance all sit on that foundation.

1988 — 1993
Bachelor of Science — Aviation Management
Liberty University · Lynchburg, Virginia

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