Actor and Educator Gonzalo Zulueta Builds Aviation Career While Flying Cessna Citation CJ3 and Joining Envoy Air

Gonzalo Zulueta, who grew up in Miami wanting to both fly and act, has built a career spanning entertainment, education, and professional aviation. He worked in soap operas, appeared in a Disney TV miniseries called 4Ever, and acted in a horror film now streaming on Tubi, while also spending 14 years in education as an aftercare teacher, substitute teacher, coach, and school administrator.

After reconsidering whether acting could provide long-term stability, Zulueta enrolled at a flight school in Miami, earned his certificated flight instructor certificate, and moved into corporate flying. He now flies a Cessna Citation CJ3 and recently accepted a position with Envoy Air.

A publicist who worked as a flight attendant connected Zulueta with Owen Cotto, a former American Airlines flight attendant who became a pilot at Envoy Air and later American Airlines. Cotto mentored Zulueta through training and career decisions and introduced him to Latino Professionals in Aerospace, an organization Zulueta credits for building professional community among aviators.

Zulueta says skills from acting and education — communication, confidence, and interpersonal ability — translate into the cockpit. He runs an aviation Instagram account, @thatcfiguy, posting tip videos for student pilots, and manages a WhatsApp group of about 120 pilots who help each other with training and job applications. To stand out in airline interviews, he completed additional FAA knowledge tests, earned extra instructor qualifications, and volunteered to mentor inmates preparing to reenter society after lengthy prison terms. He continues to act in short-form social media series alongside his aviation career and hopes one day to teach his 13-year-old nephew to fly.