Summary
- Captain Theresa Claiborne broke barriers as the first African American female pilot in the US Air Force in 198
- She spent 34 years flying with United Airlines, accumulating over 23,000 flight hours and inspiring future aviators.
- Claiborne is the director of Sisters of the Skies, a non-profit focused on diversifying the next generation of aviation professionals.
Diversity was an issue in the field of aviation. Pilots were predominantly white, with white men dominating both military and commercial cockpits. African Americans flying as captains in commercial airlines was nearly unheard of.
The first female military pilots began training 51 years ago when the Navy and Army sent women to pilot training in 1973. However, they were not allowed to fly combat missions for decades.
Captain Theresa M. Claiborne joined these women and shattered boundaries to become the first female African American pilot in the US Air Force (USAF) in 1981. She was…