Meet Our Team!
Mehmet
Chief Pilot & Owner of Connecticut Voyager Balloons
Mehmet is our FAA Certified Commercial Pilot and owner of CT Voyager Balloons. Mehmet comes with over 25 years of global aviation experience. His aviation journey began as a college student in Mersin, Turkey, where he was first trained to fly paragliders and then obtained his Ultralight PPL license to operate and fly small airplanes. Inspired by the stunning views of hot air balloons in Turkey since childhood, Mehmet began his journey of becoming a hot air balloon pilot in the legendary global headquarters of hot air ballooning in Cappadocia, Turkey. After crewing for a couple months, Mehmet received global training in piloting hot air balloons and obtained his pilot license to operate and fly hot air balloons. From that point, he attained over 15 years of flying the largest hot air balloons for global customers in the busiest hot air ballooning hub in the world, flying 26 to 30 passenger baskets. During his last six years of flying in Cappadocia, Turkey, Mehmet operated and managed his own hot air ballooning company. Subsequently, he brought his many years of global flying experiences to the United States, where the journey of his current company, CT Voyager Balloons began in 2017.
Maggie
Director of Sales, Marketing & Operations
Maggie manages the sales, marketing, advertising, contracts, legal, accounting, finance, scheduling, and customer service for CT Voyager Balloons. Maggie brings a very diverse work and educational background with many years of Walt Disney customer service, financial audit with Big4 public accounting firms and Fortune 50 Companies, global financial and internal audits in 120+ countries, and teaching at many levels.
Josh
Videographer, Graphics Design, Crew
Josh joined the crew after witnessing one of our balloon landings while he walked his dog around Pomfret School’s campus, where he is the head of the science department and an astronomy teacher. He called Maggie up, and by that Friday, he was up in the air with Mehmet acting as extra weight! He recorded multiple skydivers jumping from the balloon, and from that moment he was hooked. This is Josh’s fourth summer with the company, and these days, he does a little bit of everything. If you add a Memory Video to your flight package, you’ll see him there with his trusty drone, capturing your epic voyage!
Austin
Advertising, Public Relations, Social Media, Crew
Austin has been with CT Voyager Balloons for three years. Austin got his start after having seen us flying through the New England skies, where he turned to his then school advisor and current crew member, Josh, inquiring on how he could get his start. Shortly after, he was thrown right into action. He has been hooked ever since, even expanding from his role on our grounds crew into the realm of advertising and public relations -- both areas of study that he is embarking on at Pennsylvania State University.
Onder
Crew
Coming all the way from Istanbul, Turkey, Onder has been crewing for CT Voyager Balloons for three years. Onder brings many years of customer service and sales management experience in the pharmaceutical, automobile, and whole sale industries. Onder earned his college degree in business administration from Anadolu University in Eskisehir, Turkey. He is also a semi-pro pool player!
Clayton
Crew
Clayton has been on our crew for three years. As a native of Putnam and graduate of Pomfret School, Clayton remembers seeing our green alien balloon, "Cosmic Ray," flying the skies around his neighborhood, landing on Pomfret's campus, and even sometimes landing close to his home! It didn't take long for his interest to peak, as he went to his school advisor Josh -- our crew member -- and expressed his interest in working with us. Before he knew it, he was thrown into action! Clayton is currently in his Freshman year at RIT, and in his free time can be found chasing par at the local golf courses!
Nick
Crew
Nick is our newest crew member and a lifelong resident of East Hartford, CT. Nick studied electronics at New England Tech., and brings many years of work experience as a wire harness technician and fire sprinkler fitter for highly respected companies. He also is an avid sports fan!
