Today organizations such as Black Women in Aviation (BWIA) a nonprofit organization is supporting and inspiring hundreds of women who are reaching for the skies. BWIA is dedicated to raising awareness, promoting engagement and enabling advancement of Black women in all aviation and aerospace career fields and business sectors.
Their website states, “There is a significant underrepresentation of Black women in aviation, with Black women making up less than one percent of all certified pilots and even fewer in maintenance and technical roles. Increasing diversity in the aviation industry is crucial for fostering innovation and broadening the talent pool.”
Today there are Black female fighter pilots such as Lieutenant Colonel Shawna Rochelle Kimbrell, and Black female commercial airline pilots, such as Carole Hopson, who flies the friendly skies of United Airlines.
When Shawna Rochelle Kimbrell was a child, she dreamed of someday becoming an astronaut. She changed her mind because she learned that astronauts only go into space a very few times and fighter pilots fly all the time. So, she became a fighter pilot and was posted to the 13th Fighter Squadron in Japan. Lieutenant Colonel Shawna Rochelle Kimbrell became the first African American female fighter pilot in combat. She retired in 2020 and became the director of culture, climate, and diversity with the athletic department at her alma mater, the United States Air Force Academy.
Flying as a commercial pilot was a dream that Carole Hopson pursued. She graduated from the United Airlines’ flight school, United Aviate, as one of two female pilots in a class of 40 and the only Black woman. She and other Black female pilots experienced racism throughout their careers, but as a commercial airline pilot, she also experienced more than her share of sexism. She once told People’s Magazine, “Even when I’m in my full pilot’s uniform, passengers will ask me for a cup of coffee and confuse me for a flight attendant, as if that’s the only job a woman can have on a plane.” Hopson teamed up with United Aviate and Sisters of the Skies, a non-profit organization that supports Black female pilots, to enroll one hundred Black women in flight school by 2035.
Whether flying domestically or serving in the United States military, African American female flyers continue to soar. Theresa M. Claiborne is the first female African American pilot in the United States Air Force. Coming from a military family,
military service was a natural choice. She served as an instructor pilot on the KC-135E and as a flight commander for the United States Air Force Reserves. While in the service, she met Nia Wordlaw.
Nia Gilliam Wordlaw is a Chicago native who was lucky enough to live near O’Hare Airport, where she fell in love with airplanes. Stories of Bessie Coleman and Janet Bragg further inspired her to follow her dreams, and she became a United Airlines pilot. Like many other Black female pilots, Wordlaw wanted to inspire other Black female aspirants, and soon learned that dream was shared by Theresa M. Claiborne and Christine Angel Hughes.
If you ever wondered if angels really have wings, just ask Lieutenant Christine Angel Hughes. Lt. Hughes first realized she wanted a career in aviation when she was eleven years old, sitting in her sixth-grade classroom, and her teacher introduced the topic of astronomy. She joined the Eagle Flight Squadron while in high school, and began flying, earning her private pilot certificate before she started college. In 2009 she joined the United States Coast Guard. She feels that her greatest accomplishment was as a Certified Flight Instructor, bringing other Black women into the career she loved so much, so she and Theresa Claiborne and Christine Angel Hughes founded the Sisters of the Skies, whose mission is to support and build a more diverse next generation of aviation professionals by offering workshops, mentorships, and scholarships.
The Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA) is providing the wind beneath the wings of hundreds of aspiring female Black pilots, as well as those aspiring other opportunities at Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway International Airports. One way they provide opportunities for women and men to explore opportunities at O’Hare and Midway International Airports is through their annual Airport Expo and Job Fair at the UIC Forum. Job seekers and entrepreneurs will have a chance to connect with employers at the CDA 4th Annual Airport Expo and Job Fair on May 1. No matter what their experience level is, there are opportunities for all in cargo, concessions, construction, security, or other airport roles.
Now is the time to pursue your dreams. The sky is the limit!
