For the first time in its 96-year existence, American Airlines boasted a flight crew of all Black women from the gate, to the cockpit, and cabin, CBS News reports.
A recent American Airlines flight from Phoenix to Dallas employed an all-Black, female crew to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Bessie Coleman, who was the first African American woman to become a pilot.
Coleman first learned to fly in France because the option wasn’t available in the U.S.
She went on to become a renowned student pilot, taking the airways until 1926 when she tragically died in a plane crash.
Gigi Coleman, the historic pilot’s great nice, was aboard the groundbreaking flight.
“I think she would’ve been really amazed and in awe. I was in awe, and this is 2022,” said Gigi Coleman.
In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the first African American woman to earn a pilot’s license, American Airlines flight 372 is flying into the history books, with an all-Black female crew from the ramp to the cockpit. pic.twitter.com/di5SVlIQkv
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) August 17, 2022
Gigi continues to honor her great aunt’s legacy through the Bessie Coleman Aviation All-Stars, an after-school program that seeks to inspire young kids of color to become pilots.
“My great-aunt received her license two years before Amelia Earhart,” she said. “She wasn’t in the history books. No one knew about her.”
American Airlines 737 Captain Beth Powell is one of the less than 150 Black women who are airline pilots in the U.S., according to Sisters of the Skies.
“I’ve never had an all-Black female flight crew in my entire career,” Powell said. “Representation is so important today, because when you see someone in yourself, you know it’s possible. ‘I can do this, too.'”
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