Ajay Raghavendra, Ph.D.

Ajay Raghavendra, Ph.D. is an Airbus A220 first officer with a major U.S. airline and an aviation officer flying the UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter in the New York Army National Guard. He holds a Ph.D. in atmospheric science from the University at Albany and graduated with honors from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University with B.S. degrees in meteorology and computational mathematics. Over the course of his flight career, Ajay has logged over 3,900 hours of total flight time. His diverse background in air transport and specialized operations includes flying the Boeing 737 for a U.S. carrier, the Embraer ERJ-175 for a U.S.-based regional airline, and the Cessna 340 as a mission pilot for an atmospheric cloud-seeding program. A dedicated advocate for flight safety and pilot education, Ajay actively serves the general aviation community as an FAA Safety Team (FAASTeam) Representative with the Albany Flight Standards District Office. He is an FAA Gold Seal Flight Instructor (CFI/CFII/MEI) and provides flight instruction out of Albany, New York.