Mr. Brian Capone has been involved with aviation since 1975. He is the holder of several FAA certificates both in maintenance and operations. They include A&P/ IA, ASMEL, SES, CFII, AGI, and IGI. Mr. Capone holds a Bachelor of Science from Louisiana State University and two aviation associate degrees from Alabama Aviation Technical College. He has worked as a part time flight instructor and ran several flying clubs. His maintenance career spans over 30 years and includes work as a mechanic, IA, supervisor, maintenance contract administrator and FAA aviation safety inspector. He spent nine years working with the air drug interdiction program aircraft with the then U. S. Customs Service. Additionally, Mr. Capone served in active duty and reserve rolls in the USMC within various logistics, maintenance, and command billets, retiring from reserves at the rank of LtCol. As an aviation safety inspector since 1995 he has served in various Principal Maintenance positions covering operators from corporate, general aviation, flight and mechanic schools, aerial applicators, repair stations, on demand charters with both fixed and rotor wing aircraft. Since 2006, Mr. Capone has been a full time member of the Flight Standards FAA Safety Team involved with the continuing evolution of the team. He held the position of Southwest Region Assistant FAASTeam Program Manager covering five states and FAASTeam Program Manager for Louisiana Area. In 2011, Mr. Capone was selected as the manager of the Baton Rouge Flight Standards District Office. In that role he coordinated a consolidation of two offices while continuing to provide all stakeholder services. His leadership took the office through government furlough, shutdown, extensive hiring replacing 70% of the office, and resulted in receiving the Southwest Region FSDO of the Year for 2014. He retired from federal service with 32 years served. After retirement he served as the Chair of Aviation Technology at Baton Rouge Community College. In that role he established and obtained a FAA certification Part 147 school leading to an Aircraft Mechanic, Airframe and Powerplant Ratings along with college credits and courses leading to an Associate degree. After completion of getting the aircraft maintenance program and an existing Helicopter Training program running, he turned over to hired BRCC personnel and became self-employed as GingerAir, LLC in February 2016. In this capacity he provides consulting in aviation maintenance and operations that have included establishing a heliport, manual and logbook reviews, and tailwheel transition training. The current endeavor of assisting in establishing a Part 141 satellite operation for Gulf Coast Aviation is complete and he is serving as the Assistant Chief Flight Instructor.

Malay began his flying career in 2001 and joined the Gulf Coast Aviation team in 2017 as a certificated flight instructor (CFI, CFII). In addition to teaching engineering courses and performing coastal research at the University of New Orleans, Malay is a Captain and Assistant Safety Officer with the U.S. Air Force Civil Air Patrol. His passion for aviation and background in teaching provides an excellent opportunity for students to build upon during their training. When not in the air or researching coastal restoration, Malay enjoys running, hiking, travelling, photography, motorcycling, and volunteering with his rescued dogs. His diverse interests and extensive professional experience have shaped him into a well-balanced, safety conscious pilot and flight instructor.

Monica was born and raised in Metairie, LA. She was introduced to aviation at Auburn University where she studied Aviation Management while also pursuing her pilot certificates. She instructed at the University for one year before returning to New Orleans to instruct with Gulf Coast Aviation. “I’m pretty sure I was supposed to be a pilot. They offered a flight class as an intro course in the college of business. It just took one lesson, and I knew I was hooked.”

After two years of planning and finger crossing, Brandi moved to New Orleans from East Texas in July of 2016. Having no desire to go back, she settled in with the Gulf Coast Aviation family in March of 2017 as the Office Manager. With her love of aviation, sparked since childhood, accompanied with her 5 years of managing experience, she is always happy to assist you in any of your future aviation endeavors. Outside of the office Brandi is a part time college student at Delgado Community College, and in her free time you can catch her rollerblading at the local skate parks or walking her dogs around the French Quarter!

Matthew was born and raised in New Orleans but now lives in Kiln, MS with his wife Skye. He graduated from Jesuit High School in 2010 and earned a Political Science degree from LSU in 2015. He took his first flight lesson with Gulf Coast Aviation and became a private pilot in November 2014. After college, he began flying full time and earned his flight instructor certificates (CFI, CFII, and MEI) in July 2016.

Born and raised in New Orleans, Mary was introduced to aviation at a very young age. At only 3 years old, she took her first ride in a single-engine aircraft with her brother, David Cusimano, who is one of the owners of Gulf Coast Aviation. After dappling around with many career options such as nursing and real estate, Mary is excited to have landed upon such an exciting opportunity to be the General Manager at Gulf Coast Aviation. She recently graduated with her Bachelor of Science in Health and Wellness, but her passion for aviation has become her top priority. She is currently working toward her private pilot license while striving to create a flight school that runs smoothly and successfully.

Robert had the good fortune to learn about general aviation in high school when he was allowed to take a trip to Mississippi in a ‘small plane.’  At that moment he was hooked.  As his career of Risk Engineer started to grow, he would take ad-hoc lessons from anyone that had a “Flight Instructor” shingle hanging up.  In 2008 he realized that he had to get more astute if he was to realize his goal of becoming a pilot.  After researching his options, he chose Gulf Coast Aviation based on their attention to fleet maintenance, and their teaching curriculum.   Due to his belief in the school, he purchased shares of the company from some partners that were leaving New Orleans. Today, Robert is actively involved in the aviation community.  He was one of the 5 founding members selected for the Cessna Pilot Schools Advisory Group.

Desiring to become a pilot from an early age, Emmet began his flying career at New Orleans Lakefront Airport in 2007 and joined the Gulf Coast Aviation team in 2011.  He is ATP AMEL rated with numerous PIC type ratings and is CFII and AGI licensed.  Emmet transitioned from corporate and governmental project management to a professional career in aviation.  His passion for flying and extensive professional experience in project risk management provides an excellent foundation for students to build upon during their training.  In addition to flying professionally as a corporate pilot with Ochsner / AirMed International, Emmet is also a Captain, mission pilot, instructor pilot and safety officer with the U.S. Air Force Civil Air Patrol, a volunteer pilot for numerous environmental awareness organizations and a scuba diver with the Audubon Institute Aquarium of the Americas.  When not in the air or underwater, he also enjoys running, hiking, tennis, motorcycling, boating and performing music and stand-up comedy. Emmet’s diverse interests and experiences have shaped him into a well-balanced and safety conscious pilot.

Steve, our Chief Instructor, is the old “guiding hand” of our instructional team, offering advice daily to both instructors and students alike.  Soloing in 1968, Steve has logged 4,300 hours flying both charter and student instruction.  Aviation is his passion as evidenced by his 30 + years as a Civil Air Patrol search and rescue pilot and check airman for the New Orleans area.  In his spare time, Steve is a FAAsteam Representative giving instruction towards the Wings program.