Where Eagles Dare: Dominica-born Ethiopian Airlines captain blazes trail in African skies and beyond

It is the summer of 2019, and the gloom of the frightful Covid 19 pandemic had not yet settled on our world. One bright Sunday morning, I called Rwanda Airlines pilot David Johnson of Dominica – a distinguished and experienced aviator. After our usual chat about the governance of our island and related matters, I reminded David that we must do an interview. Irving Andre and I have always felt it the duty of Pont Casse Press  to record 0ur people’s history – especially those who have accomplished much.

Such an interview with David would, in my mind, inspire young people to greatness by following role models such as himself. I urged David towards such an interview by stating, “David, you must be the only Dominican pilot flying African skies.” “No,” he quickly responded. “I am not. Another Dominican is doing what I am doing. Captain Hodge of Ethiopian Airlines flies all over Africa and beyond,” he went on. I had not heard of Captain Hodge’s aviation exploits and was so fascinated that I  immediately researched his profile online.

Within minutes I had found Hodge on Linked In. I quickly messaged him and in no time, my phone rang. A very resonant and authoritative voice came on. “What’s going on, Gaibu?’ He said. It was Hodge.

Time and distance may have dimmed my memory, but Hodge was on target. He reminded me that we knew each other and that his mother, Agnes Hodge, had been a nurse. He further stated that his mother had worked with my mother, Alberta Christian, when they were young nurses in the early 1960s.

Hodge was born in 1965 from the union between Agnes Hodge and bus driver Joseph Hodge.

“How did you get to be a Captain at Ethiopian Airlines, ” I asked? Captain Hodge went on to tell a fascinating story. He was born at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Goodwill, Dominica. He then related his time at Teacher Rose’s famous Fields Lane Kindergarten in Roseau, Dominica. Then it is off to Roseau Boys School, Goodwill Junior High School, and the forbidding Common Entrance, which one needed to pass to enter High School back in the day. Hodge passes and gains entry to the well-regarded Saint Mary’s Academy over which principal  Egbert Germaine and the Christian Brothers linked to Iona College in New Rochelle, New York preside. It is an excellent education that Hodge receives, and he appreciates it. A 1981 graduate of the SMA, Hodge works with the Ministry of Communications and Works, Post Office and then Customs. He associates with local pilots flying Leeward Island Air Transport (LIAT) such as Captain Derek Perryman, David Armour, and others such as Paul Edwards, Ian Pringle, and CK Shillingford. He credits these men, especially Perryman and Armour,  for encouraging his growing desire to embark on a career in aviation.

Bitten by the flight bug, Hodge resigns from the public service when he is denied study leave to get a pilot’s license. With his eyes set on Sowell Aviation in Panama City, Florida, Hodge tries to get a student loan. One by one, every bank turns him down. One bank manager even laughs at Hodge and ridicules his dream. That scoffer of a banker asks Hodge  “Why not law, medicine or agriculture?” Undaunted, the determined Hodge confides in his stalwart Mum. Committed to the success of her son, Hodge states “My mother was 100% behind me. She mortgaged her house and had to carry a stiff regular business loan; one with a higher interest rate and zero grace period as compared to more affordable students’ loans. Anyway, I finished the eight-month pilot license course in four months and even got a partial refund, all of which I used to help a fellow Dominican who was at Sowell Aviation with me.”

In an inspirational interview conducted during a business trip to Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa, Hodge gave fascinating details of his more than twenty years in aviation.

Links to the full interview (Parts 1 and 2) can be found below.

Hodge has flown turboprops across African skies and heavy Boeing 767s across Europe, Africa, and Asia. In both Kenya and Ethiopia, Captain Hodge has been a flight instructor. Indeed, he once served as a Flight Examiner with the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority when he worked for DAC Aviation in that country. In 2012 he completed his master’s degree in Aviation Business Management from Moi University in Kenya. To date, Captain Hodge has over 18,000 hours of flight time. A man of faith and self-confidence,  Captain Hodge is a role model for those young and old. His motto is “Stick with your dream. Never give up.”

Captain Hodge is a gifted part of the African Diaspora. Those who embrace sustainable development philosophy believe our future resides in an honest and robust engagement with our diaspora. Such an engagement must always be based on meritocracy and national development, not ruinous partisanship.

Ethiopian Airlines was born of African Diaspora input under the wise leadership of that nation’s legendary Emperor Haile Selassie I. Selassie promoted African American aviator John Robinson to Colonel and the first Commandant of the new Ethiopian  Air Force. Robinson fought for Ethiopia in World War II to defeat the fascist invasion. Encouraged by Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) local representative JR Ralph Casimir and the Friends of Abyssinia group,  Dominicans also aided Ethiopia in that struggle. Christened as the “Brown Condor” for his aerial exploits, Robinson gave his life in the development movement he had engaged for Ethiopia. He was also the pioneer behind Ethiopian Airlines. Today, a statue of Robinson stands in its training center. Our very own Captain Ronald Hodge carries on that worthy tradition of Diasporans in the development process, exemplified by John Robinson.

Emperor Selassie’s wisdom birthed a dynamic and technologically sophisticated multibillion-dollar aviation giant in Ethiopian Airlines. Ethiopian Airlines is a global leader in aviation and one of the safest carriers. We desire that other leaders take note of that history of meaningful diaspora engagement and act in a manner so worthy and wise.

Captain Hodge is married to the former Gaile Giraud, an interior decorator. It is of note that Gaile’s Dad was Julian Giraud – a well-known pioneer in Dominica’s aviation history.

Well done, Captain Hodge! Like John Robinson “The Brown Condor,” you have flown where only eagles dare. Stay well. Be safe. Keep inspiring. Keep soaring. You have made us proud!

God bless your path with success!

The full interview with Captain Hodge (Parts 1 and 2) can be seen here:

https://youtu.be/N56kA4WBCpw – Part 1

https://youtu.be/BU3b2H2oGn0 – Part 2