Book Praise

“Although Flying Drunk is Joe’s candid story about redemption, it is more about perseverance. Pursuing a career from the beginning requires fortitude. Pursuing a career after having lost everything, including your dignity, requires raw guts.”

- Flying Magazine

"I'd fly on a plane you were flying any day, Joe. That's how much I trust you. I recommend that everyone read Flying Drunk."

- Don Shelby, WCCO Radio

"In 1998, a man came to my office looking for a job as a pilot for American Airlines. I had 50,000 applications for only 80 jobs per month. The story he told me nearly caused me to fall out of my chair. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I asked myself, 'Do People like this deserve second chances?' What would the reaction be of the corporation in this very sensitive business? Or the FAA and his fellow pilots-very conservative groups to say the least? I prayed, and was almost immediately reminded that 'Jesus never fails.' He hasn't, and today Joe Balzer is a 10-year pilot with American airlines. In my 50-year aviation career, his hiring was my greatest success."

- Captain C.D. Ewell, American Airlines, Vice President, Flight and Chief Pilot (Ret.)