A commercial pilot, Kenneth Wiley, Jr. brings a unique background to the cockpit.
“I have experienced commercial aviation from the engineering classroom to the
drawing board, to the manufacturing plant, to the test facility, to the maintenance
hangar, and finally to flight operations,” Wiley explains. All since earning
a bachelor’s in aerospace engineering from USC in 1980.
“I designed parts of the B-757 nacelle and thrust reverser,” he says, “so I now
fly B-757 aircraft equipped with parts that I personally designed over 20 years
ago!”
Wiley and USC seemed well matched from the get-go. “I applied and was accepted
to USC and a couple of other schools—including that place over in Westwood. I
felt a much more personal connection with USC. I remember getting calls at home
from aerospace engineering faculty members encouraging me to attend.”
Wiley now lives in the Rancho Bernardo area of northern San Diego County with
his wife Judy and daughter Lauren. His father attended USC on a Navy ROTC scholarship.
“USC is in my blood,” he beams.
Wiley’s Trojan experience flew by, but produced a number of fond memories. “I
lived in the late, great Touton Hall my first two years of school,” he recalls,
smiling. “Lots of late night runs to Tommy’s.”
As a student, Wiley landed a spot as a kicker on the football team in the fall
of 1979, a testament to his work ethic and tenacity. “I got to suit up for the
home games and had my picture in the program, but I never got to kick in a game.”
But that does not mean he simply stood around during practices. “The coaches
made good use of my old high school centering skills. Whenever there was some
sort of passing or running drill without the regular linemen involved, I played
center. This helped give the quarterbacks much more realistic ball handling and
timing practice than they would have gotten without me.”
Coach John Robinson saw this as a significant contribution. “When he introduced
me at our season-ending awards banquet, he didn’t say a thing about my kicking
or punting,” Wiley recalls. “But he said something like, ‘He’s the best 180 pound
center in the country.’”
Wiley relished his football experience. “I got to kick and punt during all phases
of special teams drills. I worked quite a bit with engineering alumnus Bruce
Matthews since he was the backup long snapper for punts and placekicks.” See alumnus profile on Matthews in the Fall 2003 edition of USC Engineer.
After graduating from USC, Wiley worked for several years as an engineer, holding
positions at Rohr Industries, Inc., General Dynamics, American Airlines and United
Airlines.
But he eventually returned to his childhood passion. “Growing up through the
’60s and ‘70s, I absolutely loved flying and anything to do with aviation,” he
recalls. “I started taking flying lessons at age 16 and earned my private pilot
certificate five days after my 17th birthday.”
In the mid-1980s, Wiley found that airlines eagerly sought to hire new pilots.
“I decided to go for it,” he says. He did flight instruction after work and on
weekends. “In early 1989, I had obtained enough flight experience to get an interview
and be hired as a pilot with SkyWest Airlines.” He remained with the company
until 1995, the year UPS hired him as a pilot.
“I upgraded to First Officer on the Boeing 757 and 767 in July 1996 and have
been in that position since.” With additional seniority, Wiley will become a
captain.
In the meantime, he continues to soar. “I love this job because it combines
the technical side of me with a bit of the physical and creative side.”
