History was made on an American Airlines flight from Phoenix to Dallas. CBS News reported that everyone involved with duties in the cockpit, ramp, gate, and cabin were all Black women.
It’s unclear when the flight happened, but the flight was a tribute to Bessie Coleman, the first African American woman and Native American to obtain a pilot license. In celebration of Coleman’s 100th anniversary, American Airlines had Colman’s great-niece Gigi onboard.
Gigi is the head of the Bessie Coleman Aviation All-Stars, which aims to carry out the legendary pilot’s legacy and encourage young Black people interested in the STEM program to look into careers in aviation.
“I think she would’ve been really amazed and in awe,” Gigi said about American Airlines’ all-Black female crew. “I was in awe, and this is 2022.”
She added, “My great-aunt received her license two years before Amelia Earhart. She wasn’t in the history books. No one knew about her.”
American Airlines 737 Captain Beth Powell talked about how this historical moment is new to her but very much relevant.
“I’ve never had an all-Black female flight crew in my entire career,” Powell said.
She continued, “Representation is so important today because when you see someone in yourself, you know it’s possible. ‘I can do this, too.”
After learning from her war veteran brother that women in France could get their pilot license, Coleman learned French to learn aviation in France since racism prohibited her from getting her pilot license. In 1921, she reached her goal and was given her pilot license from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. Unfortunately, five years later, Coleman was involved in a tragic plane accident when she fell out of the aircraft from about 3,000 feet due to her not wearing a seatbelt. However, she wasn’t flying the plane.
She was buried at the Lincoln Cemetery in Chicago. According to Bessie Coleman’s website, pilots fly over the cemetery on the last Saturday of every April to honor “Aviation’s pioneer colorful women,” which includes Willa Beatrice Brown, Janet Harmon-Bragg, and Bessie Coleman.
