No Aviation Legacy, No Problem: Joe Zynda’s WMU Journey to Envoy Air and Beyond

With no aviation legacy or lineage to bank on, Joe Zynda believed he needed all the support he could get at Western Michigan University in order to successfully advance his career dreams.

And he got it -- in spades.

Now a first officer at one of the larger regional airlines in the United States, the 2023 graduate of the WMU College of Aviation is a firm advocate of the paying-it-forward philosophy because of how he was treated during his higher-education years that began in the fall of 2019. 

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His comments exemplify this when asked to identify his favorite instructor.  "That would be too cruel to choose any over the others," he says.  "I really cannot select one -- or even a few -- because all of the aviation faculty and staff supported, taught and helped me along the way in an innumerable amount of different ways."

And all of this shows in how Zynda approaches the giving-something-back phase of his career and life.

"I had no aviation influence in my family," he says.  "I had to learn the rules of the road and how the industry works from first-hand experience.  On the personal-growth side, this was good for me, but there are pitfalls and hiccups that can be smoothed or avoided with a bit of insider knowledge."

This Zynda delivers when he speaks to Western aviation classes about his career, what to expect in training and a student's first year in the program, and how to prepare and present oneself as a candidate for employment.

He also flashes back to when he served as one of the college's flight and check instructors. "I always wanted to provide the best instruction to my students and ensure that their experience was well-rounded, and rigorous because the profession demands it, while not losing the aspect that flying is fun.

"I always remembered the high regard I had for my instructors when I was a student," he recalls, "and I wanted to be that instructor for my students.  My goal was to be the most effective instructor I could be for each student, tailoring how I approached each one to strengthen any specific weakness and embolden their specific strengths.  I tried to create an environment conducive to learning."  He apparently succeeded because many have maintained contacts with him as they advance in their aviation careers.

"Instructing is molding the next wave of pilots," he says, "who then pass down their experiences to the next generation.  The better a job I did for my students, the better the job they will do for theirs.  This trickle-down effect will directly affect Western's aviation college so I wanted to ensure I left a positive mark."

Zynda was raised in Shelby Township, an 80,000-population community in Macomb County north of Detroit. He is an alumnus of nearby De La Salle Collegiate High School, an all-male Christin Brothers institution. He did well enough there to finish at the top of 1,800 competitors and earn one of Western's prestigious "20 or so" Medallion scholarships.

In a way, Zynda kind of carved his own pathway to Western's Kalamazoo campus.  Interested in airplanes at an early age, he sensed that the life of a pilot was the life for him.  As a freshman at De La Salle, he undertook a project to research a university that offered a career program that interested him and that he could realistically attend.  That was Western Michigan University.

On his way to graduating magna cum laude with honors from the Lee Honors College with a degree in aviation flight science, Zynda worked briefly at one of the university dining centers, served as a resident assistant in the Eldridge/Fox dormitories, and logged hours as one of the aviation program's flight/check instructors.

He found the latter position to be highly valued.  "I learned really everything I needed to know," he says, "to be a marketable candidate for the airline industry.  Not only the foundational technical knowledge and skills, but efficiency when flying and executing aeronautical decision-making.  It also developed my interpersonal skills in working with instructor colleagues and the college administration."

Socially, he pledged Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity and served as the chapter's president, which polished his leadership skills.  He believes the organization's principles of brotherhood, scholarship and character "shaped me as a person."

While many of his milestones as a Western aviation student rank high in his memory bank, none tops the feeling that enveloped him "sitting in the flight deck in Miami ready to make my first flight as an airline pilot.  It was an overwhelming sensation, a feeling of  'I have made it.  My 17-year-old self has become the person he has been planning and striving to become for the last six years.  All those long days of instruction, early mornings and late nights as a student have paid off."

Now the rest of his career lies before him, amplified by an elective class taken during his academic years. "A class in culinary tourism really opened my eyes to the options and joys of looking for cultural enrichment," he says. 

"It can be found all over the country and the world, as long as you are open to trying new things and are up for some exploration.  The best things about my job are  the places I go, along with the ability to explore the locations for local cuisine, culture and history.  For example, I like to find hiking trails and botanical gardens."

Down the line, Zynda sees himself at the controls of a wide-body airliner heading for destinations in Europe or Asia.  And he believes that what he learned -- and still values -- during his Western career will get him there.

"Constant improvement of your own skills and knowledge is imperative to the profession," he stresses.  "An adherence to standard operating procedures and a continuous battle against complacency will always be part of the career."