Delta Airlines' first black woman pilot, a Cleveland native, comes home to share passion for aviation
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Posted By: How May I Help You NC on February 06, 2018 Even 22 years after becoming an airline pilot, Stephanie Johnson still gets the looks. The ones she gets while greeting passengers from the cockpit door, or just walking through an airport. The look that says, "What are you doing in that uniform?" Or the one that says, "You go, girl!" Johnson, the first black woman pilot for Delta Air Lines, takes it in stride. After all, it is unusual. She said fewer than 10 of Delta's 14,000 airline pilots are black women. So she tries to keep it positive. "It's not a common thing, and until it is, until it's no big deal, it's important to be out there and be encouraging," said Johnson 49, of Canton, Michigan. That's part of the message the Cleveland native will share February 2 when she presents a Black History Month program, "Dinner with a Slice of History," at the International Women's Air & Space Museum (IWASM) at Burke Lakefront Airport. The talk goes along with being a pioneer in her field, according to Johnson. "If you're doing something you love, especially something you have a passion for, it's kind-of your responsibility to share that," she said. Dealing with the pressures of being a potential role model for future black women aviators "can be a little tough," Johnson said. "I know perfection is not attainable. I just try to do my best. "Sometimes I just want to be anonymous, but you can't," she added. "So I just take a deep breath and hug my kids." A love of flying, going back to her childhood, kept Johnson on her flight to the pilot's seat. The appeal of flying at an early age was "just getting off the ground and getting away and seeing new things," Johnson said. "The Cleveland air show was always my favorite thing to do," she added. "I just loved the sound of the jets, and watching them tear up the sky." Her first taste of flying came in high school, when a teacher who owned a plane offered Johnson and her friends a ride if they could get their parents' permission and money for gas. Once aloft, "that was it, man," Johnson recalled. After graduating from Lakewood High School she attended Kent State University, where she earned a degree in aerospace technology, and also certificates as a private and commercial pilot and flight engineer with instrument and multi-engine ratings. She became a fight instructor at Medina Municipal Airport, then worked as an operations agent at Burke Lakefront Airport and as a charter pilot. After earning her airline transport pilot certificate in 1995, she was hired by Mesa Airlines. Two years later she was Northwest Airlines' first black female pilot, and then the first black woman captain for Delta in 2016. Delta Airline's First African American Captain: Stephanie Johnson (Interview) By Brian Albrecht, The Plain Dealer, balbrecht@plaind.com If you enjoyed this article, Join HBCU CONNECT today for similar content and opportunities via email! |
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