Emily Howell Warner was born on October 30th,
1939 and grew up in North Denver with four
brothers and a twin sister. Emily
attended Holy Family High School
and graduated in 1957. That same year,
Emily was a passenger on a DC-3; a flight attendant asked Emily if she'd like
to see the cockpit, an experience that increased Emily's already growing
interest in the airline industry. Emily first imagined herself as a flight
attendant, but there was an age limit of 20 and a half, because they served
alcohol and she was only 18. So instead,
with the approval of her parents, she began flight school and earned her
private pilots license.
In 1959 Emily applied to become a flight attendant, only to
find out that she was too tall. At the
time there was a height requirement of under 5'8, which she exceeded by 3/4 of
an inch. Instead, she earned her
private, commercial, and flight instructor certificates. Emily became a flight instructor and held the
position from 1961 to 1967. By 1973, she had been a chief pilot, air taxi and
flight school manager, FAA pilot examiner, and in charge of the United Airlines
Contract Training Program for Clinton Aviation Company.
In 1973, she applied for an airline pilot's position with
Frontier Airlines. At the time she had logged over 3,500 hours of flight time. After
passing a simulator test and earnestly defending her ability and desire to
become a pilot, she was hired. Her first
flight was as 2nd officer on a Boeing 737.
Emily became the first female pilot for a scheduled U.S. carrier, and
later the first female captain in 1976.
In 1976, her Frontier pilot uniform was installed at the Smithsonian
National Air and Space
Museum. In 1986, she commanded the first all-female flight
crew in the U.S. Emily was the first woman member of the
Airline Pilots Association.
In 1990, Emily retired from her job as captain of a Boeing
737 for UPS and became a Federal Aviation Administrator examiner. Today she has logged more than 21,000 flight
hours. Emily is a FAA Aircrew Program Manager,
assigned to United Airlines Boeing 737 fleet. Her awards include the Amelia
Earhart Award as Outstanding Woman in U.S. Aviation, induction into the
Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame, and induction into the National Women's Hall of
Fame.
References
http://www.greatwomen.org/women.php?action=viewone&id=194
http://www.capitalistchicks.com/?q=node/145
http://cf.alpa.org/internet/alp/2000/jun00p29.htm
http://www.cogreatwomen.org/warner.htm
http://www.airportjournals.com/Display.cfm?varID=0012004
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