When a plane operated by Jet Logistics reaches its destination, it brings more than just cargo. It brings life.
The company, founded by W. Ashley Smith Jr. in 2002, is one of the biggest and busiest organ flyers in the country. Smith’s experience flying organs began as a co-pilot on a flight in 1986.
When flying organs, every minute from takeoff to touchdown is critical.
“An organ procurement organization reaches out and tells us they have a team and organ that need to be transported,” says Smith ’91. “Once an organ is removed from a body, the organ is raced to the airport. We’re on the ground waiting for the organ and then fly to where the recipient is located as quickly as possible. Each organ has a certain amount of time it can be out of the body, and we know before each flight what the organ is and how long we have to get it there.”
In 2023, Jet Logistics transported 294 patients and more than 1,500 organs. The company accomplished this while flying 5,100 hours over four continents.
“If you don’t do this because you love helping others, you’re in the wrong industry,” says Smith. “I love helping others, and I love playing with airplanes, and I’m able to bring them together every day.”
Smith’s passion for flying developed early.
“I grew up on a farm between Kinston and Greenville,” he says.
“The farm where I grew up was in the flight path for aircraft from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base. I saw the planes overhead and knew that’s what I wanted to do with my life.”
Smith transferred to ECU from Lenoir Community College. He majored in industrial technology before pursuing a career in the U.S. Air Force. Smith says that due to government budget cuts, that military career never materialized.
“Truthfully, my main reason for attending ECU was that I wanted to be a pilot in the military. To be a pilot, you had to be an officer, and you needed a degree to become an officer,” he says.
Looking to make an impact at ECU, he endowed the W. Ashley Smith Jr. Transfer Scholarship in the College of Engineering and Technology, which annually supports students majoring in the Bachelor of Science in industrial technology transfer program.
“I feel like each generation should do what it can to help make things better for those that follow,” says Smith. “It’s something to help those following in my footsteps; a way to pay it forward.”
https://east.ecu.edu/2024/07/31/wings-of-the-purple-and-gold (author: Steven Grandy)