EPCHS Alum In The Spotlight: Dick Chibe, Class Of 1971

EVERGREEN PARK, IL — From the time he first saw airplanes approaching their landing over his home near Midway Airport as a young boy, Dick Chibe had known he wanted to become a pilot.

“I always wanted to be a pilot,” said Chibe, a 1971 alum of Evergreen Park Community High School. “In our senior yearbook, there’s a picture of me with our class officers and I had wings on my jacket.”

Only two years after graduation, Chibe earned his pilot’s license in 1973 and logged more than 27,000 hours of flight time with a number of different airlines until his retirement in 2018.

“Once I learned how to fly, all I wanted to do was fly,” he said.

His career began with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as an air traffic controller at Meigs Field and O’Hare airports in Chicago. The experience was “very fun and satisfying,” he said, although he lost the job after four years in 1981 due to a strike.

Unwilling to give up on his dream, Chibe put in several applications with the airlines, and, in 1986, was hired as a pilot by Ozark Airlines. He switched to TWA when TWA bought out Ozark and rose to the rank of Captain in 1998. He remained a captain with American Airlines when American bought out TWA.

“Not a whole lot changed in my everyday life,” Chibe said of the transition from TWA to American. “My uniform changed and I got a better check.”

Chibe was active in the post-9/11 security measures as he was with American Airlines at the time.

“It actually wasn’t so bad for pilots,” he remembers. “They locked us behind the door, so no matter what happened it was going on behind us. It’s the flight attendants I felt bad for because if anything did happen, they would be the ones who would have to fight it.”

Although living in Colorado in retirement, Chibe still makes it back to Evergreen Park every so often, and in 2021 joined other members of the Class of 1971 for a tour of EPCHS for the class’ 50th reunion.

“The school still looks great,” he said. “The athletic area, especially the baseball and softball fields, are amazing.”

The Class of 1971 remains one of the most active alumni classes more than a half-century after graduating.

“We had so much camaraderie,” Chibe remembers of his EPCHS days. “We had 435 kids in our class and we all got along, it was pretty awesome.”

Chibe said the group continues to get about 80 people at reunions.

“I enjoy it tremendously,” he said.

After a career in the air, Chibe now enjoys experiencing the country from the ground. He and his wife often plan road trips throughout the states, often visiting family and friends in New York and here in the Chicago area. The couple also own a condo in Florida.

“It’s a beautiful country, and not a lot of people get to see it. Luckily I have,” he said.

Chibe’s travels aren’t limited to the United States, either. He flew International for a few years, where he was able to visit the pyramids in Egypt and toured in Holy Land during a 3-day layover in Israel.

“It's the best job in the world,” he said. “Where else can you work for 8 hours, and then vacation for 24.”