- Captain Theresa Claiborne joined the Air Force in 1980 and later served as a captain for United Airlines.
- Although she did not meet the height requirement, she was the first black woman to be hired by the police force.
- Claiborne spoke to Business Insider about the challenges he faced and why being a pilot is such a great career.
This essay is based on a conversation with Capt. Theresa Claiborne, the first black woman pilot in the U.S. Air Force and a captain for United Airlines. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
My father was in the military so I traveled all over the world during my childhood, but when I returned to the US, my life felt stagnant.
In college, I applied to the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) at Berkeley, and during our six-week training camp, we flew in T-37s. [a small training plane made by Cessna].
Flying an airplane is freeing – it's an amazing feeling of being in control and yet not being controlled.
I decided right then and there that I wanted to be a pilot.
The hardest time of my life
In 1980, the Air Force had only 10 slots for women per graduating class, and they were already filled that year.
However, midway through the third year, reports emerged that women appeared to be graduating at the same rate as men, and the quota was increased to 30.
I flew to Laughlin Air Force Base in Texas to begin my pilot training.
It was daunting in many ways.
Unlike many in my class, I had no flying experience, and during training, flying is a lot like a rollercoaster loop… but I’m not a fan of rollercoasters.
So I just tried to get the job done and not be scared all the time.
In high school, my teacher told me that it was okay if I was bad at math because I was good at English. However, in the training, everyone knew the lecturer's formula, but I didn't.
So while my classmates were off having fun on the weekends, I was back in the dorm studying. That year was probably the hardest of my life. I was alone.
I almost never made it to that stage because I was short. They say you should be 5'4″ tall, but I was 5'2″. Throughout my career, I've had to stand on the balls of my feet to get measured.
I found out I was the first Black woman in the Air Force when a friend from ROTC told me a few weeks before graduation.
In retrospect, I was lucky. I was only 22. For someone my age, carrying both gender and race would have been too much pressure.
Just do your job
Being the only person who looked like me had its challenges, and a lot of them were very subtle, but I could sense that people would look at me and think, “Okay, here she is.”
When I enlisted on active duty in the Air Force, I definitely felt the pressure.
If I couldn’t do it well, what would people think when they saw another person who looked like me?
My attitude has always been to do the assignments and get an A. Don't allow someone to have a subjective opinion and let it pressure you into getting an A or negate something.
But who is to say that during those years, there were people who were intolerant of me because of my appearance?
There's one evaluation that I remember well, where they determined that I didn't apply de-icer early enough. That's not what I saw. But why is that decision because I'm this or that? You don't know.
After that, there was only one time that the check did not pass 100%.
Commercial pilots are qualified
After seven years, I left active duty, joined the Reserves, and in 1990 began working as a commercial pilot for United Airlines.
My route was a Boeing 757 departing from Newark, primarily to Cape Town, Johannesburg, Tel Aviv and Delhi.
Becoming a pilot requires perseverance, drive, and, believe it or not, a strong will because there are still people out there who think pilots aren't qualified to fly planes.
There is a lot of public discussion about DEI and pilot certification.
Some people say, “If I come up to a plane and there's a black pilot, I'm going to get off the plane.”
I have been stopped by passengers after going to the bathroom and returning to the cockpit. Once, I asked a passenger to let me through, and he looked at me and said, “What for?”
“Because I'm your pilot,” I replied.
He had a look on his face that said, “No, you're not.” It happened many times.
At times, even the agents working for my company would automatically try to put me in the cabin attendant seat.
I wish there was a magic word, but I think it's one pilot at a time, one person at a time. Companies are starting to enforce some rules, HR is stepping in and having unions deal with some of these situations.
Flying international flights is hard on the body
Being in the air for over 15 hours, then 24 hours on the ground, then another 15 hours in the air takes a toll on the body. It's time to retire.
I returned home from Lisbon in May this year on the last large commercial aircraft.
It was a proud moment. I've flown for so many years without incident, and I have so many women on my shoulders.
I'm going to miss being able to put on my uniform and walk through the airport and hand those wings to little kids, and their eyes will get so big.
It's interesting that they know the difference between a pilot and anybody else. They don't see through tinted glasses. They see someone with a hat on and they know that that's a pilot.
Increased diversity
Women make up about 5% to 6% of the airline pilot population, according to the report, and the number of Black women is even lower.
Women can become pilots and have families just like men.
I became involved with organisations like Women in Aviation and Sisters of the Skies to help more girls see that this is a real career.
We introduce young women between the ages of 10 and 18 to the world of aviation and put them on planes flown by women who look like them.
By the time they land, they have big smiles on their faces.
Not everyone can be a pilot, but I want them to know that they can be anything they want if they put themselves forward.
I tell the young women I mentor the same thing I tell myself: Be so good that they can't tell you you're not good.
If it's something you really want to do, be the best.
