Son of an aviator, Rich flew transcontinental general aviation flights throughout his childhood with his father.  Rich’s love of aircraft led him to an education as an electrical engineer and into the Aerospace industry working for several military contractors.  But he kept coming back to flying, and in 1984 partnered with an existing training facility to develop training devices to train airline pilots.  In 1987, he took the plunge and switched his career focus by accepting a position as Director of Training for Carnival Airlines.

During a ten year career with Carnival Air Lines he served as Assistant Vice President of Flight Operations with responsibility for all areas of Flight Operations including Training, Dispatch, Pilot Operations, Cabin Operations, and Crew Scheduling.  He developed and administered contract pilot training programs, as well as a management training academy to develop the next generations of company management. 

Rich came to Amerijet in 2001 as the Director of Training.  He accepted the 14CFR Part 119.65 position of Director of Safety in 2003. With almost 35 years of airline management experience, he is responsible to facilitate the Safety Management Program required by 14CFR Part 5 to reduce risk in all areas of airline operation.  He serves as the Airline Point of Contact for TSA Security.  Captain Carpenter holds qualifications as Flight Engineer on the B727, and PIC on the B727 and B767 aircraft.