Oneida James Rollins grew up a native of the Southside of Chicago, Illinois, but ultimately he graduated Jack Yates Senior High School in Houston. At that point he left home the last time to earn his Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering degree from the University of Texas at Austin (“UT”) at 21 years of age.
During his studies at UT, Rollins elected to join the US Navy, such that immediately upon graduation, he reported for intense, commissioned officer and naval aviator flight school training at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. Ensign Rollins exceled in his two years of rigorous T-34B “Mentor” basic, T-2C “Buckeye” intermediate, and TA-4J “Hawkeye” advanced fighter training regimen, to include full instrument approaches, instrument aerobatics, formation flying, low altitude / high-speed “dead reckoning” navigation, air-to-ground rockets, bombing, and strafing, aerial gunnery, air combat maneuvering, plus multiple landings aboard an aircraft carrier-at-sea.
Upon earning his Navy “Wings of Gold,” Lieutenant Rollins then trained on the T-39 “Sabreliner” business jet, and then served two years as a military VIP transport pilot across Southeast Asia. Subsequently, he would be assigned another two years as VT-10 Training Squadron’s chief examiner/instructor pilot; once again stationed at NAS Pensacola.
At 27 years of age, LT Rollins hired on as a pilot for American Airlines, following which he flew commercial airline passengers across the USA, including Maui and Honolulu, Hawaii, Canada, and Mexico; first as a flight engineer and first officer aboard Boeing 727, and then DC-10 aircraft. Eventually, Captain Rollins would fly domestic MD-80s out of San Francisco for five years, after which Captain “Jay” commanded international Boeing 757 and B-767 wide-body jets out of Miami to and from Central & South America, the Caribbean, major airports of Western Europe, as well as a Los Angeles – JFK non-stop, only days after the horrific 9-11 attacks of 2001.
Upon retiring American Airlines after 25-years of accident-free service, Captain Rollins earned his Master of Arts degree in Broadcast Journalism the summer of 2007. Almost immediately, he commenced to appear regularly not only on NBC, MSNBC, CNN, and other national news networks, but also Miami’s CBS4, NBC6, and San Francisco’s NBC Bay Area local stations as an aviation specialist. Rollins also self-produced Internet aviation video, including the “Glenn Curtiss Story,” a web-based mini-doc for PBS’ Miami affiliate, KPBT-TV, plus his own “Weekend Takeoff” news shorts on YouTube, where he enjoyed the unique opportunity to briefly pilot the Goodyear Blimp!
He has also served many years as live emcee for the Operation “SAFEE” Flight Aviation Expo, held annually at Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport, and also volunteer as Aviation Officer for the Fort Lauderdale branch of Navy Sea Cadets.
During this period, Captain Rollins also flew international “Sabreliner” executive and medical evacuation charters for My Corporate Jet, and he also taught FAA-certified flight classes for Wayman Aviation Academy. Both concerns are based in South Florida.
Jay Rollins happily joins South Florida’s Florida Memorial University as Director of Aviation Accreditation and Community Engagement. Rollins welcomes the appointment as an amazing opportunity to recruit and train the next generation of excellence in aviation, well into the 21st Century.