In honor of pioneer Bessie Coleman, All Blacks female flight attendants operate American Airlines flights from Dallas

The company this week celebrated the 100th anniversary of Coleman’s first public flight by an African-American woman in 1922 with the Bessie Coleman Aviation All-Stars Tour.

Coleman’s great-niece, Gigi Coleman, was hosted on a flight operated by an all-black female crew of pilots, flight attendants, customer service coordinators, cargo team members and flight maintenance technicians, the airline said. rice field.

“I am grateful that American Airlines has given me this opportunity to highlight my great aunt’s achievements in aviation.” Gigi said in a video posted by American Airlines The title is “Empty Woman Power”.

By 1918, few American women of any race had a pilot’s license, but those who did were often white and wealthy. Unexpectedly, Coleman learned French and she moved to Paris, where she enrolled at the Caudron Brothers Aviation School. In 1921, she Coleman became the first female pilot of African American ancestry and of her American descent.

Coleman died in 1926 at the age of 34 during a practice run with another pilot. Although she never fulfilled her dream of opening a flight school for her future black pilots, her Coleman influence on her aviation history lives on. CNN previously reported.

Don't forget Bessie Coleman and the history of female pilots

According to American Airlines, black women are “severely underrepresented in aviation, especially as pilots, and make up less than 1% of commercial aviation.”

“Today, as part of a crew that inspires young girls, young girls of color, to see the different roles these women play in all aspects of making this flight possible. I’m very excited to do it,” the pilot of the flight said in a video.

American Airlines said it is working to diversify its flight decks, including “increasing awareness and making access to pilot careers within a diverse community” through its cadet academy.

A day after the historic flight, pilot and cadet representatives from the Bessie Coleman Foundation and American Airlines met with students at the South Mountain Academy in Phoenix, where the flight landed, to introduce young people to a career in aviation. Did.

“I knew she was the first African-American woman to get a pilot’s license. She was the first to get a pilot’s license.” An aspiring aviation pilot studying

CNN’s Karla Pequenino contributed to this report.

Source: www.cnn.com

In honor of pioneer Bessie Coleman, All Blacks female flight attendants operate American Airlines flights from Dallas

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