Father Inspires Sons To Pursue MRO Careers At Delta Air Lines

Joe Steiper, lead project manager for airframe maintenance, just reached his 45^th anniversary at Delta Air Lines. He loves his job, but things have gotten even better now that two of his six sons have chosen to follow in his footsteps and pursue MRO career paths at the airline.

Steiper began his journey in the industry by attending Aviation High School in New York, which he chose because he liked working with his hands. He graduated with his airframe license and then moved on to Academy of Aeronautics (now Vaughn College) to get his powerplant license. He began working on the ramp for Delta Air Lines during his studies, and once he had his full airframe and powerplant (A&P) license, he transferred to Atlanta to become a mechanic with the airline.

Now, Steiper’s job includes everything from overseeing labor, safety and compliance to handling hiring and training for TechOps. Throughout his career, he has taken advantage of opportunities to bring his children to work and expose them to the aviation industry.

“We used to have a lot of days to bring your child to work. My kids loved coming out, getting involved in the stuff we have going on and seeing the airplanes,” says Steiper. “They got fascinated by the type of work I did. I’ve gone from maintenance to maintenance programs to regulatory. I worked a lot with the FAA before coming back to the base maintenance organization, and they were fascinated with some of the things that we talked about [regarding] airplanes, safety and how we maintain them.”

Steiper’s youngest son, Kevin, decided to get an A&P license from Middle Georgia State University. He first joined the airline as a contractor, worked his way to an aircraft support mechanic position and now, in his fourth year with Delta, he is a line maintenance technician.

His second-youngest son, Brandon, has been working in Delta’s central tooling operations for around eight years. “He maintains all the tools and sends them out to all the different areas,” says Steiper. Brandon aspires to transition to maintenance eventually, but he enjoys what he does now.

Steiper says working with two of his sons at Delta is “outstanding,” noting that “it’s inspirational to see them grow and blossom through the process, and in the same type of footsteps [as me].” However, he jokes that his wife is annoyed when the three of them start talking about Delta at the dinner table. “It drives my wife crazy. It’s like, ‘Oh, this is not Delta time. We need to be able to focus on our time,’ but it’s great to be able to have those conversations and talk about different things,” he says.

Steiper is not the only person in Delta’s maintenance organization with a family connection—he notes that it is common for people to inspire their family members to pursue similar career paths. “Being one of the hiring managers for tech ops, I get to see it a lot,” he says. “The maintenance [staff] are always out here working hard, but their kids see them through that process and see how they love the aviation industry, and they follow the same footsteps over and over again.”