Harley Gibbs was a smalltown kid. He grew up in Claremont and graduated from Langford Area in 2018. Gibbs says growing up in a tight-knit community surrounded by lots of family, including his grandma Yvonne who lived next door, kept him grounded. Yet, ironically, he couldn’t wait to take flight. In fact, he has a rich background in aviation despite being from ‘the sticks.’ Thus, it comes as little surprise that Gibbs is flying high these days.
The Gibbs family spent plenty of time in the air, explains Harley. “My mom (Monica) was a flight attendant for Continental Airlines for more than 20 years and my dad (Iver) was a pilot for UPS for the last 25 years,” he said.
A chip off the ol’ block, Harley soon found himself interested in the industry. “I started flying at 17,” Gibbs explains. “I was fortunate to do the majority of my initial flight training through Aberdeen Flying Service with the help of Mark Kaven and his team.”
He adds that this was only possible at this young age thanks to the understanding people around him. “With my brother and me doing multiple sports in high school, I got the assistance from my coaches and mentors to balance my sports life and my aviation life. Between school, sports, and aviation, my brother and I were driving over 600 miles a week.”
After graduating high school, Gibbs immediately moved down to Madison, SD to continue training at Riggin Flight Service with Morris Riggin and his team. While in Madison, he became a certified flight instructor before he enrolled at South Dakota State later that fall. At the university, he studied Business Economics and worked part-time at SDSU’s aviation program as a flight instructor.
After three semesters doing on-campus schooling, Gibbs was ready for something a little different. “I decided to fly full-time,” he said. “I moved to Billings, Montana to fly for a cargo operation called Alpine Air Express while continuing my college education online.”
The timing of his move couldn’t have worked out better. “I began flying in the operation in February of 2020,” he explained. “This was right before the pandemic brought the majority of the industry to a halt. Business in the cargo world became busier than ever so I was quickly able to build flight time during an industry-crippling year.”
After flying for Alpine Air for just over two years, Gibbs was hired by an international charter operation called Omni Air International. “It was at Omni where I really built valuable ‘heavy aircraft’ flight time and experience flying around the world,” he notes.
With that experience under his belt, Gibbs made another leap in the aviation industry. “I applied to Delta on my 23rd birthday since that was their minimum age of hiring at the time, and they reached out to me shortly after.”
Gibbs’s ‘wings’ ceremony was held just recently at Delta Headquarters in Atlanta. He was recognized as being the youngest pilot hired in Delta’s history. (They have a force of around 16,000 pilots currently). Gibbs explained that he’ll be flying the Boeing 737 out of Salt Lake City. “The majority of my flying will be for domestic operations with occasional flights to Canada and Mexico,” he added.
When asked why he so enjoys the aviation industry, Gibbs had several reasons. ”I enjoy traveling for a living,” he emphasized. “I like the dynamic workforce that I work with including other pilots, flight attendants, gate agents, ground operations, and more. I enjoy operating the large equipment.”
He also is happy about handing down a few perks to those around him. “I love the extensive flight benefits I can offer to my family and friends.” Finally, he added, “It’s nice being part of a career that I can go home without taking work home with me, in other words, parking the jet and going home without having to think about it until I show up to work again.”
Through all of his adventures, Gibbs says he never forgets his smalltown roots and what he learned there. “While traveling the last few years, it’s amazing how simple etiquette that is ingrained in small town life is not common most other places,” he stressed. “I believe that showing up to work or an interview with integrity, optimism, and manners helped me do well in this career and I am thankful for the Claremont/ Langford community for helping me understand that.”
Gibbs also underscored that he would recommend a career in aviation to anyone, especially rural kids gazing up at the sky. “I have met some of my best friends and have had some great experiences in my short time in this industry,” he said. “I can thank my original supportive community for this great career.”
