"When you deliver the plane it's like finishing a marathon. Maybe you're not the first, you didn't win, you didn't do a great time but you finished. And you can say, "I did it.""
Marcio grew up near the airport in Sao Paulo, Brazil and every Sunday, his dad would take him there to watch the planes come and go. It took one 15 minute ride in a Cessna when he was a boy to hook him on aviation for life.
At 20 years old, Marcio had his Commercial License in hand and set off to the US to learn English and get his FAA license. He drove a cab through San Francisco for many long nights before finally getting his FAA Commercial, IFR, Multi Engine license in 1995.
Marcio returned to Brazil and after many long days hanging around the airport bugging everyone to hire him, he finally got a gig to fly a Cessna Citation up to Florida for maintenance. And so began his career as a pilot.
Marcio has captained for major carriers in Brazil and in the US. He is also the go-to guy to deliver King Airs and Phenoms straight from the factory to buyers around the world.
"Nothing compares to picking up a brand new aircraft in Brazil and taking it across 10 countries and a couple oceans to deliver it on the other side of the planet."
With more than 10,000 hours in the air, Marcio has arrived exactly where he wants to be. He flies an airbus for a major American airline and picks and chooses the delivery jobs he wants to take on. The boy who watched in awe as those big machines took off into the skies is now Captain of the ship.
"The sense of accomplishment and the bragging rights that I encounter on every trip is something that it will be very hard to ever let it go."
