Last week, United Airlines flew an all-female crew to commemorate Women’s History Month. On Thursday morning, the plane flew from Newark to Sarasota Bradenton International Airport in Florida.
Gabrielle Harding, United’s second Black female line check pilot in history, led an all-female crew on flight 1215 from EWR to SRQ.
Captain Harding is the only Black woman to have flown commercially since graduating from Hampton University’s HBCU pilot program in 1997. She is also a member of the “Hampton 6,” a group of all-Hampton graduates who are now captains with United Airlines, and the only woman among them.
Harding said, “I adore everything about flying. Being a mother provides me with stability, as does the possibility to travel to new countries. “I enjoy every aspect of my career.
On Thursday, Harding was accompanied by First Officer Julia Ewalefo, who started her career as a flight attendant at United Airlines and flew her first flight. She previously worked as a flight attendant for Frontier Airlines before transitioning to the flight deck and flying for Endeavor before joining United.
She then went on to remark, “For the girls and the future generation — just knowing it’s possible for us, and just to be inspired and knowing that anything you wanna do, just put your mind to it.”
The flight crew from the initial flight, Flight 2612, returned to Newark from Sarasota around 2:12 p.m. on Thursday.
A 2022 assessment by the Women in Aviation Advisory Board found that women account for only 4.6% of air transport pilot roles. Harding stated that one of her reasons for becoming a Line Check Pilot and training new hires was to help them overcome hurdles.
“There will always be some negative feedback,” Harding said of women who want to be pilots. “That’s what fuels the soul, and that’s what makes you keeps on pushing.”
“Also, that was one of the things that made me want to become a line check pilot, so that I could help people like Julia get through those barriers so that they don’t have to go through some of the pushback that I had to go through.”