when somebody says no to you do you want
to do it more do you take it as a
challenge or do you see it as face value
and move on the answer to that question
is it depends it depends on how badly
you want it no is what I heard from my
family when I told them I wanted to
learn how to fly
no is what I heard from my industry when
I sought out a mentor and a job
no is what I heard from my own body
when I was grounded by life-threatening
illness I was born in Greece but I grew
up in Chicago so if any of you have seen
the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding
it’s literally like watching home videos
for us we had restaurants and snack
shops and grocery stores and butcher
shops and strip malls so when I was
asked to interview a flight instructor
for a school project and I got the
aviation bug it’s a true thing all I
could think about was airplanes it was
like a sickness so imagine I bebop home
to my dad I’m 13 years old I said dad I
want to learn how to fly airplanes he
said ah no no no we are Greek we do not
do these things I said oh come on dad
look at Olympic Airlines look at the
Greek airforce
he said yes but there are no women there
because it’s not women’s work
now you know he wasn’t wrong
and I had my challenge it’s not easy to
change a patriarchy you don’t do it with
strong arm and force you do it slowly
and systematically appealing to pride
and ego and with some help from mom I
persisted and I eventually convinced my
traditional Greek family that a good
Greek girl could fly airplanes I bagged
groceries and worked in the family
restaurant for years I told myself it’s
a four to one ratio four days of work
and I can pay for one more day of flying
lessons
eventually I earned my private pilot’s
license nobody in my family flew they
didn’t really understand what that meant
so when I took my dad up for his first
airplane ride in a Cessna or Chestnut as
he calls it to this day we weren’t 50
feet in the air and I can see the pride
in his face and that he was convinced my
family became my biggest champions and
boy did I need them convincing them was
just the first of many many hurdles I
had no idea how difficult it would be to
break into such a male-dominated
industry I look for mentors while I was
still in high school and when I told the
one-and-only airline pilot I knew that I
was learning to fly he tilted his head
looked me up and down and said what wait
what why just become a flight attendant
you have to understand that the gender
silos at that time were incredibly
engrained female equals flight attendant
or stewardess male equals pilot but I
said yes
I sought out the finest aviation school
in the country and I graduated from the
University of North Dakota Center for
aerospace sciences in 1990 finding a job
as a pilot was near impossible it was a
simple supply and demand issue there
were pilots everywhere so working at the
18 local AT&T phone center store after
college is not what I thought I would be
doing but I did I also washed airplanes
I flight instructed I flew charters I
flew corporates I flew turboprops for
multiple Express carriers making less
money than I did bagging groceries and
just as I thought you know what I’m
gonna go back to school and get my MBA I
got a call out of the blue from an
acquaintance and he said hey Evie you
still flying I said yeah I was a little
skeptical why what’s going on he said
why don’t you come fly 737s for me I
said I don’t know are you drug running
he said no i am the chief pilot at this
new start-up airline and i have if you
could if he only stopped there right I
was so excited
I’d been flying for 10 years I was about
to get my big break but he didn’t he
went on he said I have an HR department
and she said I need to hire a word I’m
not gonna repeat and I thought of you
immediately I was like oh this is not
how I was hoping to break into this
industry but even though I was
disappointed in the circumstance I
really did want the job and I told them
I take the position on one condition
that he never ever called another female
that derogatory term again
he apologized and agreed now you have to
understand that that mentality was
prevalent in the early days and it was a
real good ol boy network it was a
barrier to entry for many women
this was our glass ceiling so breaking
into this world of machismo with guns
a-blazing was not the way to do it you
break in by tackling opportunities as
they come no matter how lackluster they
might be and sometimes it doesn’t hurt
to have a little help from a friend I
said yes and 12,000 hours and hundreds
of visits to beautiful cities around the
world I sure am glad I did so about 20
years ago I was based on the East Coast
and I was in the jump seat commuting
home to Chicago the flight was full and
the captain needed to get out and as I
slid out the flight deck door there was
a guy loitering right and in the forward
galley area he looked at me and he said
wow the pilots get their own waitress I
was speechless for the first time in my
life ever and the captain had an amazing
comeback the captain said no she’s a
Czech pilot she’s making sure we do
everything right confused he walked away
and we laughed the whole way back to
Chicago it was a strange time in my
career because I had so much support and
backing from my fellow pilots and peers
yet the general public had not caught up
yet so five years ago I was saying
goodbye to the passengers as they were
getting off my jet and a little lady
stopped and she looked at me and she
said now where have you been the whole
flight
uh I’ve been in the flight deck ma’am um
did you have a good trip
she said now when did they start went
letting women do that this made me
reflect and realize what a tough time
that generation of women had how many
noes must she have heard in her lifetime
but bells went off in my head and I
realized that standing up front in
uniform I was making a small societal
contribution one flight at a time
today the Air Line Pilots Association
which represents pilots at major
airlines in North America says that
women make up just 5% of its 57,000
pilots
globally it’s even worse it’s 3% only
4,000 of the hundred and thirty thousand
current airline pilots are women
globally now that’s not surprising
considering in some areas of the world
women are just getting the right to
drive but I truly feel that women and
other overlooked groups are the silver
lining in aviation as we face an
unprecedented shortage of qualified
pilots when I see another female on my
flying schedule I literally do a little
happy dance it’s not at all because I
don’t like men I love men but my BFF and
I have been on similar moving sidewalks
throughout our careers and we usually
end up talking about our experiences
which forms an instant bond out of a 747
this iconic aircraft is recognizable
worldwide and it was the last bastion of
the boys club I flew with one of the
first female 747 pilots and she was a
real Mountain mentor she was part of the
generation of women that were truly
pathfinders in the
industry and I can only imagine what she
went through how is it possible this 95
pound girl can fly nine hundred and
fifty thousand pound jet upon completion
of her training she was told you know
you’re not the right material for the
747 so what do you mean I did great in
training I was at the top of my class
they said well we don’t think your hands
are quite big enough to push those up
for throttles up she said yeah I was so
mad I was shaking but I knew better than
to burn the house down I let it go for a
day and then I went in to see the chief
pilot and I said look just give me a
shot if I run into any issues I promise
I’ll find some man with some big hands
to help me out she said yes well the
sexist culture prevailed in the past
I’m so happy to report that the
profession now looks like a melting pot
this has reprove the industry’s culture
as a whole I was so happy I was finally
flying for a global airline on some
fantastic international routes I was
even able to secure the inaugural flight
to Athens this was one of my highlights
of my career flying to my birth country
was truly amazing shortly after this
photo I donated my hair to Locks of Love
Shirley now everything was right in the
world I had a rock star of a husband
three amazing sons a great support
network of friends and family I was on
my way to an upward trajectory at work
yeah I faced and jumped over some
hurdles but for the most part I made it
all out all right I finally did it who
gets to surf on Waikiki welder at work I
was living the dream
this is an often use phrased by pilots
especially when things
aren’t going as planned and they did not
go as planned
turns out I would be needing those locks
of love myself I was diagnosed with an
aggressive form of breast cancer I
really couldn’t believe it I never saw
it coming I felt great I was a marathon
runner
I ate twigs and berries with my
Mediterranean diet I did 200 plus mile
relay races with my airline team how
could this be when the oncologist told
me I had breast cancer I told her she
must be mistaken she’s looking at
someone else’s slides denial was the
first form of grief and I systematically
went through all of them telling my
family my kids was the hardest thing by
far I’d ever done it changed everything
for me and my family up until this point
they had never seen me lay down on the
couch during the day and now I was there
every day
my oldest would walk by and hold my hand
on his way home after he came home from
school and he wouldn’t say a thing as I
was laying on the couch and he would
bounce up the stairs two at a time it
was like he was trying to transfer some
of his teenage energy into me my middle
son would invite his orchestra friends
over it and they’d had full blown out
concerts in the living room my youngest
would insist on a dog walk every day to
keep my body moving when it really did
not want to after four surgeries 20
rounds of chemo six weeks of daily
radiation in eight weeks of physical
therapy I was done my fun meter was
pegged my Greek mother and father did
not leave me for nine months my husband
brothers neighbors acquaintances all
shaved their heads in solidarity I was
instantly indicted into the bald man
group and I can get ready in four
minutes flat but I knew I was lucky I
had my faith my family
my friends in my profession to help me
navigate each step like a pilot’s
emergency checklist and every phase of
treatment was broken down into smaller
steps this diagnosis in the subsequent
treatments left me weak and tired but
not defeated I had been flying since I
was 16 it never dawned on me that this
privilege would be taken away by cancer
and I was determined to get back to
flying I said yes my company was very
good to me even though I couldn’t fly
but that just wasn’t enough I needed
something to look forward to something
to get my mind off the cancer so I
decided to go back to school to get my
MBA 22 years later after after my first
intent and without the amazing
experience at Northwestern’s Kellogg
School of Management I would not be on
this stage today sharing the world with
the world my journey
hoping to inspire to add to the melting
pot to encourage future pilots to come
fly with me I’ve recently requalified in
the captain seat of the 767 free and
clear of cancer that is my first officer
my journey wasn’t easy there was always
someone telling me no but that’s never
what I heard
whether it was my family telling me no I
said yes the industry telling me no I
said yes or the ultimate betrayal my own
body telling me no I said yes and you
can’t to whatever your dream is whatever
fight for it when somebody says no you
need to be hearing it depends it depends
on how badly you want it your passion is
your contribution to this amazing world
it’s not easy you have to fight for it
and maybe someday
I’ll see you out in the skies with me
to do it more do you take it as a
challenge or do you see it as face value
and move on the answer to that question
is it depends it depends on how badly
you want it no is what I heard from my
family when I told them I wanted to
learn how to fly
no is what I heard from my industry when
I sought out a mentor and a job
no is what I heard from my own body
when I was grounded by life-threatening
illness I was born in Greece but I grew
up in Chicago so if any of you have seen
the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding
it’s literally like watching home videos
for us we had restaurants and snack
shops and grocery stores and butcher
shops and strip malls so when I was
asked to interview a flight instructor
for a school project and I got the
aviation bug it’s a true thing all I
could think about was airplanes it was
like a sickness so imagine I bebop home
to my dad I’m 13 years old I said dad I
want to learn how to fly airplanes he
said ah no no no we are Greek we do not
do these things I said oh come on dad
look at Olympic Airlines look at the
Greek airforce
he said yes but there are no women there
because it’s not women’s work
now you know he wasn’t wrong
and I had my challenge it’s not easy to
change a patriarchy you don’t do it with
strong arm and force you do it slowly
and systematically appealing to pride
and ego and with some help from mom I
persisted and I eventually convinced my
traditional Greek family that a good
Greek girl could fly airplanes I bagged
groceries and worked in the family
restaurant for years I told myself it’s
a four to one ratio four days of work
and I can pay for one more day of flying
lessons
eventually I earned my private pilot’s
license nobody in my family flew they
didn’t really understand what that meant
so when I took my dad up for his first
airplane ride in a Cessna or Chestnut as
he calls it to this day we weren’t 50
feet in the air and I can see the pride
in his face and that he was convinced my
family became my biggest champions and
boy did I need them convincing them was
just the first of many many hurdles I
had no idea how difficult it would be to
break into such a male-dominated
industry I look for mentors while I was
still in high school and when I told the
one-and-only airline pilot I knew that I
was learning to fly he tilted his head
looked me up and down and said what wait
what why just become a flight attendant
you have to understand that the gender
silos at that time were incredibly
engrained female equals flight attendant
or stewardess male equals pilot but I
said yes
I sought out the finest aviation school
in the country and I graduated from the
University of North Dakota Center for
aerospace sciences in 1990 finding a job
as a pilot was near impossible it was a
simple supply and demand issue there
were pilots everywhere so working at the
18 local AT&T phone center store after
college is not what I thought I would be
doing but I did I also washed airplanes
I flight instructed I flew charters I
flew corporates I flew turboprops for
multiple Express carriers making less
money than I did bagging groceries and
just as I thought you know what I’m
gonna go back to school and get my MBA I
got a call out of the blue from an
acquaintance and he said hey Evie you
still flying I said yeah I was a little
skeptical why what’s going on he said
why don’t you come fly 737s for me I
said I don’t know are you drug running
he said no i am the chief pilot at this
new start-up airline and i have if you
could if he only stopped there right I
was so excited
I’d been flying for 10 years I was about
to get my big break but he didn’t he
went on he said I have an HR department
and she said I need to hire a word I’m
not gonna repeat and I thought of you
immediately I was like oh this is not
how I was hoping to break into this
industry but even though I was
disappointed in the circumstance I
really did want the job and I told them
I take the position on one condition
that he never ever called another female
that derogatory term again
he apologized and agreed now you have to
understand that that mentality was
prevalent in the early days and it was a
real good ol boy network it was a
barrier to entry for many women
this was our glass ceiling so breaking
into this world of machismo with guns
a-blazing was not the way to do it you
break in by tackling opportunities as
they come no matter how lackluster they
might be and sometimes it doesn’t hurt
to have a little help from a friend I
said yes and 12,000 hours and hundreds
of visits to beautiful cities around the
world I sure am glad I did so about 20
years ago I was based on the East Coast
and I was in the jump seat commuting
home to Chicago the flight was full and
the captain needed to get out and as I
slid out the flight deck door there was
a guy loitering right and in the forward
galley area he looked at me and he said
wow the pilots get their own waitress I
was speechless for the first time in my
life ever and the captain had an amazing
comeback the captain said no she’s a
Czech pilot she’s making sure we do
everything right confused he walked away
and we laughed the whole way back to
Chicago it was a strange time in my
career because I had so much support and
backing from my fellow pilots and peers
yet the general public had not caught up
yet so five years ago I was saying
goodbye to the passengers as they were
getting off my jet and a little lady
stopped and she looked at me and she
said now where have you been the whole
flight
uh I’ve been in the flight deck ma’am um
did you have a good trip
she said now when did they start went
letting women do that this made me
reflect and realize what a tough time
that generation of women had how many
noes must she have heard in her lifetime
but bells went off in my head and I
realized that standing up front in
uniform I was making a small societal
contribution one flight at a time
today the Air Line Pilots Association
which represents pilots at major
airlines in North America says that
women make up just 5% of its 57,000
pilots
globally it’s even worse it’s 3% only
4,000 of the hundred and thirty thousand
current airline pilots are women
globally now that’s not surprising
considering in some areas of the world
women are just getting the right to
drive but I truly feel that women and
other overlooked groups are the silver
lining in aviation as we face an
unprecedented shortage of qualified
pilots when I see another female on my
flying schedule I literally do a little
happy dance it’s not at all because I
don’t like men I love men but my BFF and
I have been on similar moving sidewalks
throughout our careers and we usually
end up talking about our experiences
which forms an instant bond out of a 747
this iconic aircraft is recognizable
worldwide and it was the last bastion of
the boys club I flew with one of the
first female 747 pilots and she was a
real Mountain mentor she was part of the
generation of women that were truly
pathfinders in the
industry and I can only imagine what she
went through how is it possible this 95
pound girl can fly nine hundred and
fifty thousand pound jet upon completion
of her training she was told you know
you’re not the right material for the
747 so what do you mean I did great in
training I was at the top of my class
they said well we don’t think your hands
are quite big enough to push those up
for throttles up she said yeah I was so
mad I was shaking but I knew better than
to burn the house down I let it go for a
day and then I went in to see the chief
pilot and I said look just give me a
shot if I run into any issues I promise
I’ll find some man with some big hands
to help me out she said yes well the
sexist culture prevailed in the past
I’m so happy to report that the
profession now looks like a melting pot
this has reprove the industry’s culture
as a whole I was so happy I was finally
flying for a global airline on some
fantastic international routes I was
even able to secure the inaugural flight
to Athens this was one of my highlights
of my career flying to my birth country
was truly amazing shortly after this
photo I donated my hair to Locks of Love
Shirley now everything was right in the
world I had a rock star of a husband
three amazing sons a great support
network of friends and family I was on
my way to an upward trajectory at work
yeah I faced and jumped over some
hurdles but for the most part I made it
all out all right I finally did it who
gets to surf on Waikiki welder at work I
was living the dream
this is an often use phrased by pilots
especially when things
aren’t going as planned and they did not
go as planned
turns out I would be needing those locks
of love myself I was diagnosed with an
aggressive form of breast cancer I
really couldn’t believe it I never saw
it coming I felt great I was a marathon
runner
I ate twigs and berries with my
Mediterranean diet I did 200 plus mile
relay races with my airline team how
could this be when the oncologist told
me I had breast cancer I told her she
must be mistaken she’s looking at
someone else’s slides denial was the
first form of grief and I systematically
went through all of them telling my
family my kids was the hardest thing by
far I’d ever done it changed everything
for me and my family up until this point
they had never seen me lay down on the
couch during the day and now I was there
every day
my oldest would walk by and hold my hand
on his way home after he came home from
school and he wouldn’t say a thing as I
was laying on the couch and he would
bounce up the stairs two at a time it
was like he was trying to transfer some
of his teenage energy into me my middle
son would invite his orchestra friends
over it and they’d had full blown out
concerts in the living room my youngest
would insist on a dog walk every day to
keep my body moving when it really did
not want to after four surgeries 20
rounds of chemo six weeks of daily
radiation in eight weeks of physical
therapy I was done my fun meter was
pegged my Greek mother and father did
not leave me for nine months my husband
brothers neighbors acquaintances all
shaved their heads in solidarity I was
instantly indicted into the bald man
group and I can get ready in four
minutes flat but I knew I was lucky I
had my faith my family
my friends in my profession to help me
navigate each step like a pilot’s
emergency checklist and every phase of
treatment was broken down into smaller
steps this diagnosis in the subsequent
treatments left me weak and tired but
not defeated I had been flying since I
was 16 it never dawned on me that this
privilege would be taken away by cancer
and I was determined to get back to
flying I said yes my company was very
good to me even though I couldn’t fly
but that just wasn’t enough I needed
something to look forward to something
to get my mind off the cancer so I
decided to go back to school to get my
MBA 22 years later after after my first
intent and without the amazing
experience at Northwestern’s Kellogg
School of Management I would not be on
this stage today sharing the world with
the world my journey
hoping to inspire to add to the melting
pot to encourage future pilots to come
fly with me I’ve recently requalified in
the captain seat of the 767 free and
clear of cancer that is my first officer
my journey wasn’t easy there was always
someone telling me no but that’s never
what I heard
whether it was my family telling me no I
said yes the industry telling me no I
said yes or the ultimate betrayal my own
body telling me no I said yes and you
can’t to whatever your dream is whatever
fight for it when somebody says no you
need to be hearing it depends it depends
on how badly you want it your passion is
your contribution to this amazing world
it’s not easy you have to fight for it
and maybe someday
I’ll see you out in the skies with me
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