Linda Pauwels (born 1963) is the First Latina Captain at American Airlines. She is also the youngest woman jet captain (cargo) at age 25 on a Boeing 707, in 1988.[1][2]
Linda Pauwels | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 1963 |
| Known for | First Latina Captain and First Latina Check Airman at American Airlines |
Life
editPauwels was born Linda Pfeiffer in San Pedro, Buenos Aires, she has been married to Frederick Pauwels, airline pilot, since 1981, and has two children.[3] Her grandfather is Polish General Franciszek “Radwan” Pfeiffer, commander of longest fighting unit during Warsaw Uprising.[4] She graduated from Miami Dade College’s North Campus at age 22 in 1985 and was inducted into the MDC Hall of Fame in 2005.[5]
Career
editShe has been with American Airlines since 1988, has also served as Check Airman (instructor/evaluator) on A-320 and presently on B-787, the latter as a designated examiner on behalf of FAA.[2] In 2000, she became American Airlines' first Hispanic woman captain on a McDonnell Douglas MD-80 and, in 2015, the company's first Hispanic woman to be a Check Airman.[6]
Before American Airlines, she was a pilot for Southern Air Transport. They were a military and civilian contractor, known for having been owned by the CIA before Congress required them to divest ownership.[4]
She was a columnist for the Orange County Register and has published two books, Beyond Haiku: Pilots Write Poetry, and Beyond Haiku: Women Pilots Write Poetry, which features never-before published poems by Amelia Earhart.[7][8]
In celebration of International Women’s Day of 2021, American Airlines operated a flight with an all-female crew both on the plane and the ground from Miami to Dallas-Fort Worth. Linda Pauwels led the flight crew.[9]
References
edit- ^ Walker, Noelle. "American Airlines Marks International Women's Day With All-Female Crew". NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
- ^ a b Totah, José (2019-02-03). "Linda Pauwels, de San Pedro a la cabina de un Boeing 787". La Nación (in Spanish). ISSN 0325-0946. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
- ^ "Linda Pauwels: de primera piloto latina de American Airlines a convertir a sus compañeros en poetas". El Español (in Spanish). 2022-07-09. Retrieved 2022-08-02.
- ^ a b Ruíz, Vicki; Sánchez Korrol, Virginia (2006-01-01). Latinas in the United States: A Historical Encyclopedia. Indiana University Press. pp. 561–562.
- ^ "A Pioneering Pilot Who Writes Haiku, Too". MDC alumni news. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
- ^ Azevedo, Ana (2021-03-09). "American Airlines opera voo com tripulação totalmente feminina". Brasilturis Jornal (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2022-03-10.
- ^ Villa, Walter. "She Was American's First Latina To Captain A Flight. Now, She's A Pioneer Poet, Too". Miami Herald.
- ^ Negroni, Christine (October 17, 2021). "Amelia Earhart's long-hidden poems reveal an enigma's inner thoughts". The Washington Post.
- ^ "All Female Crew Makes Historic American Airlines Flight From Miami To Dallas On International Women's Day". 2021-03-09. Retrieved 2022-03-30.