Irwin Wenzel is a graduate from the State University of New York at New Paltz with a Bachelor’s degree in economics, originally from New York City, a second generation American whose grandparents immigrated from Eastern Europe at the beginning of the twentieth century. While in college, Irwin founded, managed and coached the school’s first inter-collegiate ice hockey team. Upon graduating, he worked as a wholesale liquor salesman while attending flight school. In 1996, he became a full-time flight instructor at the Boca Aviation flight school, later promoted to chief pilot and director of flight training. At the age of 39, Irwin was hired by American Eagle Airlines and in 2016, transferred to the mainline carrier, American Airlines where he currently flies the Boeing 737, based at New York’s LaGuardia Airport.