One of eight siblings, Carl Stuart II grew up in Guyana. His parents instilled in him discipline, love for God and respect for all men.
Stuart began working in the aviation industry as a teenager — he was 15, working as an accountant. He went on to a career, spanning more than 25 years in airport operations and administration.
He has worked for three major Caribbean-based airlines in leadership roles — briefly for GAC, 15 years with BWIA, before transitioning to Caribbean Airlines. With Caribbean Airlines, he has worked as manager in Guyana, then interim general manager for St. Maarten and Jamaica. He returned to Guyana in 2010 to be airport manager for South America.
In the tri-state area since December, Stuart is now sales executive for Caribbean Airlines in New York and the North East USA.
During this brief time, he has aided Caribbean Airline’s transitional positioning as a strong brand across the Caribbean Diaspora and leisure segments of the market.
“I love serving communities,” Stuart says of his work both in aviation and outside his profession. “When Caribbean Airlines has an opportunity to give back we do,” he says of its tri-state outreach.
He elaborates, “We transported to Jamaica at no cost medical supplies and portable equipment for clinics.” Caribbean Airlines also donates tickets for a myriad of Caribbean Diaspora fundraising events.
This airline executive looks to his mother as having a great influence on his life. “She reached out to persons disadvantaged,” he says. “As a young boy, I got involved in community work.”
He is also an ordained minister, an elder, in the African Methodist Episcopal Church with a passion for working with those at risk and disadvantaged.
“I oversee a men’s counseling program in New Jersey serving youth and adults,” he says. “We deal with issues of gang violence, young men being bullied, and access to opportunities not easily obtained.” He adds, “I mentor young men to move from hopelessness to hope, to look to a better tomorrow and that the past does not determine the future.”
In Guyana for the last 10 years, he has also done community outreach work including a twice-weekly feeding program for youth at risk, a language arts and book program for kids, and support for girl dropouts that includes working with the families.
In November 2014, the government of Guyana recognized Stuart for his outstanding work for more than two decades in aviation in Guyana.
