Hidden Figures in Modern Aviaton

Less than 1% of American pilots are Black women; these leaders are working to change that

Angela Myles-Pilcher had no idea that she would make history as the first Black female helicopter pilot in law enforcement.

The Compton native had no aviation experience before attending flight school. By the time Myles-Pilcher, 64, entered into the police department in 1983, the crack cocaine epidemic was at an all time high in Calif. The drug war forced the LAPD to rely on helicopters for fast responses and aerial views of the city. She witnessed a life-saving helicopter rescue of a hurt police officer when she was 27 years old, and the experience solidified her desire to fly helicopters for the Compton Police Department.

While crime transpired outside of her workplace, Myles-Pilcher said she faced aggression within her workplace because of her race and gender. She explained that her capabilities and skills as a pilot were often questioned despite her formal education and work experience.

“It was a lot of dismissing me, pretending I'm not in the room," said Myles-Pilcher. "Whether you wanted to accept it or not in this field I was still your equal, and there’s nothing you can do to take that away.”

Similarly, Captain Theresa Claiborne, 65, also didn’t know she was making history until days before graduating as the first African American female pilot in the United States Air Force. Claiborne would go on to shatter more glass ceilings, including becoming the first Black female air commander and the first Black female instructor pilot of a KC-135 aircraft. She logged more than 23,000 flight hours over the course of her career.

In an industry of more than 150,000 licensed pilots, only 18,000 identify as women. A closer look reveals another disparity within that minority group: Of those 18,000 female pilots, less than 200 identify as African American. The bottom line: Black women make up less than 1% of pilots in the United States.

By earning their pilot's licenses, Myles-Pilcher and Claiborne entered into a demographic so small and untapped that nearly every joining member had some sort of “first Black woman to” statement on their resumes. Being a “first” required thick skin, and a willingness to overcome the social, financial and societal barriers presented to Black women throughout American history. In the past, such obstacles have forced pioneering Black female aviators to go to extreme lengths, including pooling their money to buy their own plane and even leaving the segregated U.S. to earn their pilot’s license.

Turbulent skies: a history of women in aviation

The word overlooked comes to mind when one examines the role women have played in the aviation industry. History glosses over Katharine Wright and her pivotal contributions to her brothers’ historic flight in 1903. Katharine, whom President William Howard Taft called “the most important member of the family,” provided the moral encouragement and financial support that led to her brothers becoming the first airplane pilots. She also cared for Orville after a plane crash, served as their social manager at international public appearances and tracked their flight records.

Women began taking major strides of their own to break barriers in American aviation in the early 1910s. Ruth Nicoles broke the women’s altitude record, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic and more. Women of other ethnicities and cultures even got the opportunity to progress in aviation during these years, most notably French pilot, Baroness Raymonde de Laroche, who was the first woman in the world to earn her pilot’s license.

For African American females in aviation the timeline goes blank at this time, with no glimpse of achievement for another decade.

Jim Crow laws and “separate but equal” ideology were in full effect across the United States from the early 1890s to the 1950s, prohibiting African American citizens from learning how to fly. However, these regulations didn’t stop Bessie Coleman, who became the first African American person to earn a pilot’s license in the early ’20s. But, she had to leave American soil to do it.

Advocacy groups rallying for the rights of Blacks in aviation formed in the late 1930s. President Franklin D. Roosevelt took notice, signing the Civilian Pilot Training Act. The subsequent programming contained an anti-discrimination rule that offered once-in-a-lifetime opportunities for African Americans and women to have fair access to pilot training.

Advocating for change

More than eight decades later, advocacy and diversity programs like the Civilian Pilot Training Program are still needed today. In Southern California, flight schools like First Take Aviation and Arc Flight Academy have picked up the mantle to make aviation possible for underprivileged communities.

Arc Flight Academy empowers the next generation of pilots through mentorship and aviation education and training. Located in Van Nuys, Calif., the nonprofit offers fully funded grants to underprivileged and disadvantaged aspiring pilots to bridge the gap between aviation interest and education accessibility.

Jasmine Richards, 37, an African American student pilot, pursued a career in aviation after a free Discovery flight at Arc Flight Academy. Richards said in a video released by the academy that she did not know any Black pilots at the time of her demonstration flight, but she is now on a full tuition ride courtesy of the nonprofit. Richards is the only Black female in her program.

Mexican American pilot Giselle Gomez, 21, also started her career in aviation after taking a guided hands-on Discovery flight. Similar to Richards, her exposure to aviation was limited as a minority woman. At 21 years old, Gomez is eligible to be a commercial pilot and now works as a Certified Flight Instructor at First Take Aviation in Van Nuys, Calif.

“Before I started flying, I did not know of any pilots,” Gomez said. “It [learning to fly] was never necessarily an option for me because I never knew anybody that experienced what I’m going through currently.”

“It's imperative that we go out and we introduce aviation to those people that couldn't imagine it, don't know it's a possibility, and give them the framework to become professional pilots and make a good living,” said Edgar Cañedo, member of Arc Flight Academy.

Though financial stability may be on the other side of earning a pilot's license, the cost of obtaining the license, itself, is hefty. For commercial American pilots the average cost of flight training and licensing from the Federal Aviation Administration is roughly $150,000. Captain Claiborne and other ambassadors understand this cost presents a stifling disadvantage for the minority community, and are coming to the rescue.

"That's a lot of money. And financial institutions are not jumping at the bit to loan that kind of money to an aviation student," Claiborne told ABC News. "We don't have these long generations of pilots in the family."

“Within this field for Black women, girls…there's also so much discouragement,” Myles-Pilcher said.

Discrimination is common for Black women in aviation, but it is nothing new.

Segregation remained legal in the United States until the late 60's, forcing Black women to take on low paying jobs like caregivers, cooks and maids. As a result, these obstacles put African American women behind economically and educationally for years to come.

A case can be made that today’s statistic, that less than 1% of American pilots are Black women, is not by chance. Instead, it may be the result of systemic oppression in American history.

Seeking higher altitude: how women of color rise above turbulent skies

Claiborne retired in May of this year. As she signed off for United Airlines for the last time she and her fellow retiring pilots faced an uncertain reality about who would be taking their place.

The American aviation industry has taken a hit in 2024, facing: airplane pilot and air traffic controller shortages, higher travel demands, technical difficulties, unsafe airplanes, troubles getting helicopter insurance after the death of Kobe Bryant, air travel delays and global technology outages. All of these factors are also swirling around during an economic downturn. To combat these issues, the floodgates have opened for hiring pilots. A four-year degree requirement has been lifted in an effort to garner more applications and diversify the backgrounds of potential hires.

The mass hiring efforts have also caused an increase in flight cancellations and terminated routes because there are more pilots than there are planes. In addition, commercial airline companies have lost money from financing inspections and making sure their airplanes are airworthy.

The fight for equality in aviation still continues today. In January of 2024 Elon Musk, CEO of Space X, Tesla and X (formerly Twitter), targeted aviation programs at Historically Black Colleges. He suggested that they were the reason for plane crashes and technological aviation issues at that time. He claimed these universities’ diversity, equity and inclusion (“DEI”) programs produced less qualified pilots, and have made air travel less safe.

“It will take an airplane crashing and killing hundreds of people for them to change this crazy policy of DIE (sic),” Musk wrote on X on January 9th, 2024, misspelling the initiative’s acronym. The CEO also created two posts the following day stating , “Do you want to fly in an airplane where they prioritized DEI hiring over your safety? This is actually happening,” and “People will die due to DEI” (as response to an incident of a door blowing off of an Alaskan Airlines plane).

Alaska Airlines pilot Mia Hutcherson offers another perspective. “There is this talk that unqualified people are flying, which is the furthest thing from the truth,” she said. “Regardless of however you go about your journey, you have to take multiple exams in front of the government…You either pass or you do not pass.”

According to Hutcherson, there are systems in place by the FAA to ensure the safety of pilots and travelers, including an annual proficiency exam necessary for pilots to maintain commercial licenses and strict policies about age and retirement.

“Diversity is important. Some people don’t want to believe that,” Claiborne said in a video she released celebrating her retirement. “Trust me I am qualified…There’s no way the United States government, there’s no way United Airlines would put me in control of a multimillion dollar airplane and tell me to go fly 350 people around the world. It’s not gonna happen unless I’m qualified.”

Sky’s the limit: diversifying the skies of tomorrow

Claiborne and other female pilots of color have taken to social media to share their career experiences and build a safe space online and in-person for Black female pilots to meet each other, share resources and loop in aspiring minority pilots.

“There’s a lot more upcoming women and people that wouldn’t have been pilots, let's just say 50 years ago,” Gomez said. “There’s definitely up-and-coming diversity in women in aviation.”

She’s not alone in her thinking.

“From my experience, at least, it's pretty rare to fly with any type of minority. But, it [diversity in aviation] has been trending in the right direction. I can see a change in the mentality within the airlines,” Cañedo said. “What the Arc Flight Academy is doing right now is imperative to try to capitalize on that and bring a whole new perspective to the industry, and kind of stir things up in a good way.”

Reporters, Kristle Adler, Brier Evans, Kiya Young and Alexandria Keller prepare for takeoff

Clear for takeoff: trailblazers pave the way for the next generation

A lot of work has been done to diversify this male-dominated industry. Airline unions are a safeguard to prevent pay disparities among genders and races. To limit racial discrimination and encourage equality, the mandatory written pilot’s tests from the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) are anonymous. Test takers are given an identification number and not required to disclose their race or gender.

But, there’s still more progress to be made.

According to African American female pilot Mia Hutcherson, company-to-company work culture plays a pivotal role in the protection and support Black women feel in the workplace. A former flight attendant, Huterherson now makes a point to ask passengers to show respect to all members of the flight staff.

Like many of her peers, she did not have access to Black women in aviation growing up, and had to “piece together” her training itinerary as she acted upon her longtime dream of becoming a pilot. Similar to history maker and pilot Janet Bragg, Hutcherson used the money she saved during her day job as a flight attendant and flight attendant trainer to fund her evening pilot lessons. To gain her pilot’s license, she sought out small airports with flight clubs and asked instructors to teach her one-on-one.

“I tell people I always wanted to do it, I just didn’t know how,” Hutcherson said. “The issue is not a lack of education, but a lack of exposure.”

Since becoming a pilot, Hutcherson said she experienced many incidents of being overlooked because of her race – even getting mistaken for a gate crew member while in her pilot’s uniform and facing harassment and stalking in her workplace. She has had to improvise her pilot’s uniform after being offered a choice of only two sizes (an extra small and a large) as a result of the disparity of fashion equality for women in aviation. Looking ahead, Hutcherson wonders how these trends will change as she starts a family, when in fact, the first maternity uniform for commercial pilots was created just 30 years ago.

Hutcherson noticed that the hazing died down when white male colleagues stepped in and advocated on her behalf. But, this did not stop clamors about her jewelry choices, lipstick color and decorative nails, leaving Hutcherson questioning how her accessories correlated to her ability to operate a plane.

Pictured Captain Mia Hutcherson

When Hutcherson applied to what would become her first job as a pilot, she would be the only African American woman at the company.

“It's just a little sad that I am the only one. You know?” Hutcherson said. “Instead of celebrating me being the only one, like, let's figure out how to get more of us in this industry.”

During her job interview for the pilot’s position, Hutcherson said the interviewer asked her if she was pursuing her career in aviation later in life because she lacked a formal education. On the contrary, Hutcherson was overqualified for the position having attended the University of Southern California for undergrad and graduate school, and speaking multiple languages.

Today, Hutcherson encourages the next generation of minority pilots to inquire about work culture and company values before accepting an employment offer. Taking her advocacy a step further, Hutcherson followed in the footsteps of Claiborne and became the Founder and CEO of Angel City Aerospace Foundation. The Los Angeles-based nonprofit attends career days in inner city schools, teaches STEM programming to students and connects potential aerospace students with resources like childcare and scholarships. She is also a public speaker and shares relevant and useful advice aspiring pilots can use in today’s workforce such as financing pilot training, being a competitive candidate in the aerospace industry and more.

Mark Twain said that, “There is no such thing as a small miracle in aviation.” The strides Black female aviators have made are proof. Through organizations like Angel City Aerospace Foundation, First Take Aviation, Arc Flight Academy and Sisters of The Skies, advocacy efforts in 2024 come in the form of scholarships, Instagram posts and free Discovery flights.

The journey ahead for equality in aviation will continue to be tough, but now there are more opportunities for Black women. With captains like Claiboune, Hutcherson, Myles-Pilcher and others at the helm, the legacy of trailblazers like Bessie Coleman and Janet Bragg continue to live on today.

“Shut out the noise,” Myles-Pilcher said. “Tell your story and keep your story going.”