Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Secretary Greg Thomas has announced the appointment of Brad Schwandt, as Department of Aviation Deputy Commissioner effective February 1. In January of this year Schwandt retired from UPS after 35 years of service, most recently as Aircraft Maintenance Operations Manager, and is looking forward to continuing his aviation career in the public sector.
Schwandt’s aviation career took off when as a teenager he began washing planes part-time at Riveredge Aviation flight school and hanging around small general aviation airports in the St. Louis area. After graduating from a technical high school with an A&P license he began an aviation career with Engine Air Ltd working on radial engines and performing line maintenance on Douglas DC-6 aircraft. Upon turning 18 he then went on to work on corporate jets for Rockwell International’s Sabreliner division and Midcoast Aviation.
In his early 20’s, Schwandt took a sabbatical from aviation to attend the University of Missouri where he obtained a Bachelors in Economics and worked nights at United Parcel Service (UPS) in the ground operations where he remained for seven years. Upon UPS starting their own Airline, Brad took an assignment with the Industrial Engineering department as a part of the Aircraft Maintenance Methods Development Team. He then spent the next 28 years serving in multiple aircraft maintenance management positions with his longest stint serving as the Director of Maintenance and Aircraft Maintenance Operations Manager for the last 11 years.
