Delta Air Lines, one of the world’s largest commercial carriers by fleet size, operates numerous aircraft types – from Airbus A350s all the way down to 9kg (20lb) DJI M300 autonomous drones.

But the Atlanta-based carrier’s two drones – named “Dolly” and “Reba” – are not just for fun. They are central to a new programme designed to revolutionise the airline’s maintenance operations, and Emma Galarza is spearheading that effort.

Galarza is a senior engineer with Delta TechOps, the division responsible for aircraft repair and maintenance. She studied mechanical engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology and first landed at Delta in 2018, while still in school.

“It can be difficult to get your foot in the door, but I ended up at a career fair talking with one of just a few people at Delta who worked in fatigue and failure analysis. That was how I got my first role.”

The job was a so-called “co-op” role – meaning Galarza worked full time at Delta while still a student. At the end of the programme she had logged a full year of employment at the airline.

“Internships are usually extremely short, and engineering work typically takes longer than that to make an impact. So it was a unique opportunity to really work like a full-time engineer at a company, but still also go back to school,” Galarza says.