Simon Donnelly-Orr
Like many TU Dublin alumni, Bolton Street graduate and pilot Simon Donnelly-Orr followed a non-traditional career path to reach his current role. After graduating with a degree in Product Design in 2011, he pursued a career in aviation and now serves as a captain for Ryanair.
I studied Product Design from 2007-2011, when TU Dublin was DIT.
I knew from a pretty early age that I wanted to go down the aviation route. When it came time to me filling out CAO forms I spoke to a few pilots who recommended I go to college before I start looking at flights schools. Just to give me time to mature and enjoy the college experience and all it has to offer.
By far the best experience during my time in DIT was my classmates and friends I made from Clubs and Societies. We were a small class in product design of about 30. So quite quickly we became very close and are all still quite close today.
After graduating in 2011 I took a year out, working in the Alps as a ski rep. I got this job with the company we used to go with on the annual DIT ski trip. I was president of the Ski Club during my last year in DIT so the company were happy to take me on as I spent a year organising the trip with them. After the winter finished I worked in a pub for a few months while I investigated flight schools and did the entrance exams for them to see which ones would accept me. After reviewing my options I settled on Flight Training Europe Jerez which is based in the south of Spain. I went what’s called a fully integrated route which meant all I did from August 2012 until December 2013 was study to obtain my Airline Transport Pilot Licence.
After leaving Jerez I got a job at Dublin airport working as a dispatcher (the person who is in charge of managing the turnarounds of aircraft on the ground). This was great experience to see how the industry works from a different angle of the day to day operations. In March 2015 I was hired by CityJet as a first officer. I spent three and half years there before moving onto Ryanair as a first officer, based in Dublin. In November 2022 I passed my command checks to be promoted to captain.
The most important factor of being a pilot is their ability to get on with their fellow pilot and cabin crew on the day, as well as every part of the operation. Ego and short temper has no place on the flight deck. TU Dublin helped me learn how to do this by the array of societies, clubs and different cultures of students that attended. Being able to broaden my mind in how different people think and how certain events/activities are organised and run.
Take your time. There is no rush. There were a few times during my time in DIT where I thought I should leave and follow my aviation path sooner, as I found out quite early on that I didn’t have aptitude for design. But Product Design was such a well-rounded course that there was more on offer during it than just purely design as we spent most of our time in Bolton Street. I also was enjoying the college time so much, and more importantly the close friends I had made that I stayed until graduation. Also, with aviation being such a temperamental business sometimes having a degree to fall back on at any stage is an absolute must in the industry.
My favourite thing to do in Dublin when I have a day off mid-week, my wife is working and my daughter is in school - and I do it as regularly as I can - is to meet some friends at about two o’clock in the day. We head to Kehoe's pub just off Grafton Street (best Guinness in Dublin) until about seven o'clock. We then go get a burger followed by another pint or two... And then get the last buses home!