On Tuesday, February 7 Dr. Barry Eccleston, president and CEO of Airbus Americas Inc., spoke to the Vaughn community about his aviation career and future opportunities in the industry. He was drawn to the aviation industry because of the “freedom of the skies, and the romance of travel,” he said.

The US-based Airbus Americas supplies passenger plans to companies such as American Airlines, Delta, JetBlue and Spirit. Airbus has an expanding presence in the aviation and aerospace marketplace and has seven main centers of activity in the US and approximately 1,100 employees.

Eccleston believes the success he achieved in his career is due to hard work ethics and luck, and encouraged students to be proactive in their career choices.

“To be happy and successful you need to figure out what gets you out of bed in the morning,” said Eccleston. “Success and excitement will come to you with, hard work, luck and continuous growth.”

Eccleston was interviewed by management student Otha Ward ’20 and answered questions in the question-and-answer session after speaking.

For more information about Vaughn’s offerings in guest speakers, see our events calendar here.