Costa was the first resident of Corning to get a pilot's licence, obtained at the Syracuse branch of the Curtiss Wright Flying Service when he was only 21 years old.

[3] Soon afterward, he started advertising passenger flights and operating from nearby Erwin Field on the Painted Post-Coopers Plains Road (Rte 415), flying types such as the Fairchild 24 and the Travel Air.

Corning Painted Post airport took Costa's name, and flying events such as the Federal Air Circus of Saratoga, NY, were held there, with Freddy Weisher.

José Costa was ready for his transatlantic flight attempt, from the US to Portugal, in 1936, flying the Lockheed Vega he had acquired for the purpose.

He finally departed from the American Airlines Field (now Elmira-Corning Regional Airport) on December 10, 1936, for his first stopover point at Miami, Florida.

[14] On December 16 he set off for San Juan, Puerto Rico, departing Miami at 9:15 am assuming the risk of having to divert to Cuba or Haiti depending on weather conditions and fuel supply.

Pan Am reported the day after that once more bad weather caused a diversion to Dajabón in the Dominican Republic[16] amidst the border definition problems with Haiti.

Due to fuel exhaustion, gas having been pilfered from one of the tanks, he had to ditch in a field in Serro, state of Minas Gerais, on January 15, 1937.

He still arrived in Rio at the controls of an airplane, a WACO having been provided by the Brazilian Military Aviation[21] for him to complete the last leg, after taking off from Belo Horizonte.

He soon borrowed an airplane, a 90 hp Kreider-Reisner Challenger biplane, owned by Erwin Smith of Tioga[24] and started flying.

[25] During WWII Costa was a CAA (later renamed FAA) examiner in Kansas and Iowa, evaluating young cadets seeking to enter the air force.

There was the option to become a test pilot for new aircraft, but he considered it to be a dangerous job and declined the opportunity, focusing instead on developing the Costa airport and flying services.