Lost Black History
By Don Valentine
Bessie Coleman, America’s “First Lady of Flight,” was feted by American Airlines to celebrate her 100-year aviation legacy. She was the first Black woman to earn a pilot’s license. American amassed a complete flight crew of all Black women to complete a flight in her memory. The 36 member flight crew included the full gamut of staff — the pilots, cargo team flight attendants and maintenance technicians. Flight #372 left Dallas the morning of Aug 22, 2022 on a direct flight to Phoenix Sky Harbor airport. Kudos go out to American for moving staff around the country to pull off this commemoration. None of the other top 10 U.S. airlines, like Delta, United, Southwest had the staff or temerity to make this diversity statement.
Travel and Leisure magazine notes the project got assistance, “…of the Bessie Coleman Aviation All-Stars, an organization run by Coleman’s great-niece, Gigi Coleman (who was also on board AA 372). Besides sharing Coleman’s story — and the stories of other Black aviation icons — the organization also offers STEM programming to introduce students to aeronautics and careers in aviation.” The pilot, Captain Beth Powell, told Today, “I’m beyond thrilled to be a part of the crew where we’re inspiring young girls, young girls of color, to see the various roles that these women play in every aspect to make this flight possible.”
Dr. Sheila L. Chamberlain, the national chair of the Bessie Coleman Aviation All-Stars, said. “Because all these little girls who look like me, they saw someone like them pushing the aircraft. They saw a female that looks like them putting the baggage in, they saw someone ticket-taking. All Black!” Dr. Chamberlain is an aviation pioneer, becoming the first Black female combat intelligence aviator in the Army in 1985. She grew up surrounded by aviation as her father served as a combat engineer in the Army and her cousin was an original member of the Tuskegee Airmen. During her flight school training, she was mentored by another aviation icon, Willa Brown Chappell.
The biggest task for the memoriam was finding enough Black females to fill out the flight crew. ABC News reported, “… there are less than 150 professional Black women pilots in the U.S. that hold airline transport pilot, commercial, military or certificated flight instructor certificates. That equates to less than 1% of all professional pilots in the U.S.”
The task of getting “Wings” is daunting, but Bessie Coleman did the hard part already. Dr. Chandler noted that help is out there, “…pointing to organizations like Sisters of the Skies, the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals (OBAP), and the OBAP’s Luke Weathers Flight Academy as resources for young people interested in aviation and aerospace.” Gigi Coleman told the Washington Post, “The main goal of the Bessie Coleman Aviation All-Stars is to expose young people to aviation careers. The doors are wide open for them now. The sky is not the limit”
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