Where Aviation Meets Ambition: A Career That Has Taken Reina Cooke Global
When you cast your career lot with the aviation industry, one can expect to fill out a passport or two.
But in Reina Cooke's wildest dreams growing up near Detroit in an international-oriented family, she probably never imagined visiting all of the planet's continents -- and we mean all of them. The latest being Antarctica, reached after a cruise from Argentina.
The two-degreed graduate of Western Michigan University is now the director of training for the Southern California-based enterprise Latitude Aviation 33, which she joined in 2021 after a three-year stint with the WMU College of Aviation's outreach and recruitment program.
"Working in this role," Cooke says, "taught me just how many facets there are to this industry. Getting to work with a wide variety of alumni and industry reps taught me so much about how many unique opportunities exist in aviation."
Frosting on the cake was the fact that her recruitment duties took her three times to the annual EAA Air Venture in Oshkosh, Wis., which exposed her to just about every aspect of the aviation industry. All of that has been applicable in her past and current duties at Latitude Aviation 33 that is headquartered in Carlsbad, Calif., and deals in jet charters, aircraft management and aircraft sales.
Cooke was raised in Monroe, a community of about 21,000 on the western shores of Lake Erie some 40 miles southwest of Detroit. "I'm blessed to have an international family and grew up flying to visit them," says the 2015 graduate of Monroe High School. "For as long as I can remember, I thought airports were exciting and fascinating. I was interested in the-behind-the-scenes logistics."
That passion led Cooke to attend one of the College of Aviation's summer camps as she prepped for her senior year in high school. "Everyone there was so kind and knowledgeable," she says. "Meeting the students and professors, and experiencing campus life, made my decision easy. It felt like home."
To Cooke, it "was getting the best of both worlds -- 'Big School' athletics, campus and size, while not losing the 'Small School' aspect within the College of Aviation. I was getting a great aviation education without giving up the traditional college experience."
While working toward her 2018 degree in aviation management and operations, she served as one of the college's aviation ambassadors where Cooke enjoyed "connecting with potential students and, even better, seeing them on campus when they chose Western."
She joined the WMU chapters of Women in Aviation International and the National Gay Pilots Association. "Being able to attend both organization's national conferences as a student provided great insights to the industry," she says. "Talking to people currently in the industry was invaluable."
Also invaluable was what she experienced in the years working as a recruiter under the tutelage of the program's director, Tom Thinnes, and his assistant, Eric Epplett. Their guidance and advice stay with Cooke to this day. They directed her to scholarship opportunities and they strongly supported her efforts to earn a master's degree in public administration in the spring of 2021.
Kudos also go to the college's core of instructors and the professional staff. "I always felt so supported," she says. "People would stop by the front desk and say ' Hi.' There was always a friendly face, someone willing to answer a question. I wouldn't be where I am without those who gave me their time and resources as a student."
One of those folks was Russ Kavalhuna, her instructor in aviation law. “By far and away, my favorite professor!” Kavalhuna, a Kalamazoo-bred Bronco alumnus himself as a 2001 graduate of the aviation program, was at the time executive director of the college's flight operations (from 2015 to 2018). Also on his resume was five years as a captain for U.S. Airways Express during which time he used weekend studies to earn a law degree. That led to a six-year tenure working for the U.S. Department of Justice in Grand Rapids, followed by seven years at the helm of Henry Ford College. And, by the way, he is now president of Western Michigan University, the 10th person to hold that title.
"His experience as a lawyer," Cooke says, "provided great perspectives and stories. I still reference laws we discussed in that class regularly in my job today," duties that see her playing a role in her employer's expanding operations eastward into such markets as Chicago, Indianapolis, Nashville, New York City and Washington with the motto of getting "you to your destination in luxury and style."
Related to that, Cooke’s favorite class, airline administration taught by Lisa Whitaker. "Definitely the best class I took at WMU. It was a class in which you basically run your own airline. Choosing routes and aircraft, then having to respond to simulated weather events, was as much fun as informational."
Cooke sees her immediate objective as "to keep evolving and growing with the industry because it is always changing. Every day is different," she says. "We see different clients headed to different events all over the world. It's fun getting people to where they need to go. You sometimes see on TV the person your company just flew to that event. Working for a smallish company has allowed me to take on a variety of tasks and gain experience in multiple facets.
Cooke’s most recent adventure took her farther than she ever imagined aviation would lead her—straight to the White Continent. Before heading south, she spent a week exploring the vibrant streets of Buenos Aires, a sharp contrast to the icy silence that awaited her at the bottom of the world. From there, she boarded an expedition ship in Ushuaia and was lucky enough to cross the Drake Passage in what seasoned travelers call a “Drake Lake”—calm seas, smooth sailing, and stunning views stretching endlessly toward Antarctica. (The return trip delivered the more infamous “Drake Shake,” but that, she says with a laugh, is all part of the story.)
Once on the continent, the experience became nothing short of surreal. Cooke spent her days kayaking alongside icebergs, hiking untouched terrain, and taking Zodiac cruises that brought her within view of penguins, seals, whales, and towering blue ice formations. “The landscape didn’t feel real,” she says. “It was like stepping into a different planet—so quiet, so vast, and so beautiful.” The trip gave her not only breathtaking memories, but also a renewed appreciation for the global connections and friendships that aviation has brought into her life. And for someone whose career and curiosity have already carried her across the world, touching Antarctica marked a milestone she’ll never forget.
"I've now been to all seven continents," she reflects. "While not always a function of my job, this industry naturally surrounds you with people who love to travel. It's been such a blessing to experience new cultures, food and places with the friends aviation has brought me."
And that's a pretty impactful recruiting message.