2023 AMT 40 Under 40 Maintenance Professional: Gregory P. Ruby Jr. — Senior Inspector, Kalitta Air

Gregory Ruby is a senior inspector with Kalitta Air, which has long been a part of his life. His father also works for the company. Ruby joined Kalitta Air on his 18th birthday when he needed a summer job, and he’s been with them ever since, 18 years strong.  

“It's a real big family-style atmosphere. Hometown, raised here, and worked my way up throughout the company, and I've never decided to go to a large FedEx or anything like that, just kind of stayed with this private company. It's just nice to see my progression and other people's progression throughout this 18 years in aviation, and growing with it,” he said.  

As senior inspector, Ruby verifies that all the tasks a mechanic has done were done correctly for all the manuals and reviews paperwork. 

“I also go out abroad for aircraft purchases, making sure the aircraft is good before we buy it and stuff like that, kind of just anything quality control-wise, inspection,” he said. “You're never going to know everything. Every day there's something that you haven't dealt with before, so you're always having to study and learn more about the aircraft you're working on.” 

Ruby said that the feeling of accomplishment, knowing that you're like the last line of defense before an aircraft is able to leave, is his greatest satisfaction. 

“You're checking over people's work, making sure it's good. You just know that you're one step in a large process of a large aircraft that's flying in the sky. It's just kind of rewarding to see it fly away and know that you had a big part in the reason why it's working and staying up in the air,” he said.