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Our Team
Kirk Barrett
Chief Flight Instructor
Certificates and Ratings:
Commercial ASEL, ASES, CFI, CFII
A&P, IA Mechanic
Owner of Carolina Aviation
Kirk is an Aiken native that has always had a love for aviation. Hooked on flying after flying a Beechcraft Baron on his father's lap at the age of five, Kirk has been involved in aviation since 1982. Kirk graduated from Jackson High School in 1980 and later earned his Associate's Degree from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 1986. He has worked at Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Macon Air, and Beech Aerospace Services. Additionally, he worked at DynCorp as a contractor completing a tour as an aircraft mechanic in Kuwait and Afghanistan in 2003. He has owned several aircraft and is a founding member of Carolina Aviation of Aiken.
John Schutte
Flight Instructor
Certificates and Ratings:
Commercial ASEL, AMEL, CFI, CFII
Since as far back as he can remember, John has had a passion for airplanes. As a little boy, his parents both of whom worked for the airlines, took him to JFK to watch the airplanes take off. Though they were not pilots, rather sales and check-in agents, they had the opportunity fly all over the world, and many times his father took them up to the cockpit to see the pilots. Years later, his life took several different turns. He obtained Bachelor of Arts degree in English and then joined several airlines. He worked as a Reservation's Agent and Interline Officer with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, joined Northwest, and later Lufthansa Airlines. He then pursued his Aircraft Dispatch License and joined TWA as a Dispatch Trainee and then Atlas Air Cargo as Dispatcher and Dispatch Planner. Additionally, he obtained his Multi-Engine Rating, CFI, and CFII. Because of the cyclical nature of the aviation industry, he left aviation and became a high school teacher, where he taught AP and Honors English. He later obtained a Master's Degree in School Administration. After several years of teaching high school, he pursued flight instructing, which he has now done for 6 years at Carolina Aviation. In 2019, he became a First Officer at Wisconsin Air, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he was given furlough. Though things have picked back up, he had decided not to return to that position, but rather teach middle school and continue with Flight Instructing to continue to do what he loves the most.