We visit with Empire Airlines Captain Mark Holden. Mark is one of our regular listeners, and he reached out to us at [email protected].

Mark graciously agreed to appear on this episode of Talking Flight and he is the very first Regional Pilot to appear on our program.

Mark talks about his early days flying as a Student Pilot at the Redmond Roberts Field in Redmond Oregon. He met the Airport Manager, Carrie Novick, and she encouraged him to persue his dream of becoming a Professional Aviator.

After getting his Private Certificate as a High School kid, Mark went on to Embry Riddle University to obtain his advanced certificates and his College Degree.

Mark tells us about his varied flying background, including his time as a Freight Pilot, and later progressing into the Medical Airlift Business.

Mark is currently a Captain for Empire Airlines, and he is flying ATR42-500 in the Hawaiian Islands. The Airlines serves as a feeder for Hawaiian Airlines under the brand name of "Ohana by Hawaiian".

When I asked Mark what advice that he had for beginning pilots, he said "Don't be shy, ask a lot of questions".