Young Philadelphia pilot returns to Tailwinds Academy to inspire the next generation

At just 20 years old, Jonathan Suarez is already a certified pilot and flight instructor.

For Suarez, operating an airplane takes skill, discipline and confidence — but it's also the dream he once hoped would take flight.

"It's the freedom," Suarez said. "You're in the airplane and you're just free."

CBS News Philadelphia first met Suarez four years ago when he was a 16-year-old student at Frankford High School. At the time, he was taking his first steps into aviation through Tailwinds Academy of Aviation.

"I'm getting one step closer to becoming what I want to be," Suarez said in 2020.

Tailwinds Academy of Aviation was founded by Howard Cooper in 2019. The nonprofit introduces young people to careers in aviation and helps them see opportunities they may have never imagined.

"We saw this opportunity to use aviation to open doors for young people," Cooper said.

With support from the School District of Philadelphia, Suarez became one of the program's first students to begin flight training. Now, he is helping other students follow the same path.

"As a first-generation American, it stuck with me how aviation connected people worldwide," Suarez said.

Cooper said the program is about more than flying planes. Students must be accepted into the program and maintain their grades, learning discipline, responsibility and confidence along the way.

"The knowledge that they have succeeded at something very few people have," Cooper said. "Self-confidence that I can do this."

For Suarez, that confidence helped change the course of his life.

"I went from being that kid in Philadelphia to being a professional pilot," Suarez said.

Recently, Eagles cornerback and new Philadelphian Jonathan Jones, who is also a pilot and plane owner, stopped by Tailwinds Academy to encourage students to chase their dreams and remind them their future has no limits.

For Suarez and the students following behind him, Tailwinds Academy is proof that with the right opportunity, big dreams can take off.