Pilot’s Perspective: A Women’s Journey to Becoming a Commerical Pilot
A Guest Post by Pilot Brittany Maeyama. Brittany is married to Pilot Austin (above).
Hello, my name is Brittany and I'm from Dallas, Texas. I am currently a pilot for a regional airline and loving every minute of it. Being a pilot was not always a lifelong dream for me. During college, I had dreams of being either a lawyer or a cop. During the last semester of completing my Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice, I realized I was not in love with my career choice.
After many talks with my dad, who is an Air Force aviator, I decided I wanted a career in aviation. I wanted a job that I was passionate about, that pushed me to grow professionally and that allowed me to see the world. My dad shared that there was a pilot shortage and that I should look into a career as a pilot. To be honest, I never thought of being a pilot as a career. I always thought you had to be in the military or go to some big-name college.
I frantically started looking up flight schools since I had just graduated college and had no desire to look for a job in criminal justice. I graduated in May and by June I had taken my first discovery flight. It's safe to say I had the BIGGEST smile on my face and couldn't believe I could get paid to do this. I was sold. I took out a student loan and put all my cards on the table (I haven't looked back since).
By August 2016, I had started training at ATP Flight School. By May 2017, I had finished all my training and was now certified how to teach people how to fly. To say it was fast pace was an understatement. For 9 months, all I did was eat, sleep, and breathe airplanes.
After completing training, I worked as a flight instructor. Being a flight instructor was so rewarding- taking someone on their very first flight, to watching someone solo a plane for the first time to passing a check-ride.
Through flight instructing, we were able to reach 1,500 hours of flight time (the requirement to work for the airlines in the US).
While flight instructing, I met my husband (who is also a pilot). We love having a friendly landing competition, running into each other at the airport, tagging along on each other trips, and sharing a unique lifestyle.
Currently, my husband and I, both, work for Envoy Air (an American Airlines wholly-owned regional) and love every minute of it. We still cannot believe we get paid to fly around the US, meet new people and explore new places. We both aspire to fly for a legacy carrier one day, with dreams of flying the 787 international and sharing our passion for aviation with out future children.
My advice to future aviators or anything thinking about being a pilot, is GO FOR IT. Regardless, of age or career change. You won't regret it. Lastly, to never give up. There will be plenty of hard days but I promise it will be so worth it in the end & you will have the best job in the world with the most incredible views.
