Capt. Theresa Claiborne logged more than 23,000 career flight hours.
Pioneering aviator Captain Theresa M. Claiborne has retired after 43 years of flying, first as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force then as a Captain at United Airlines. She made history as the first Black woman pilot in the history of both the Air Force and United.
Claiborne was hired as the first Black woman pilot at the airline in January 1990 after seven years of active duty with the Air Force and 13 years in the Air Force Reserves. Her final landing for United Thursday at Newark, New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport marked her retirement after 34 years with the air carrier.
"It's been a pleasure to be your Captain and an absolute honor to fly the friendly skies," her post concluded.Claiborne was one of 25 Black female pilots at United Airlines at the time of her retirement, according to hershows that 15.1% of their frontline employees – which encompasses pilots, flight attendance, gate agents, baggage handlers and caterers – are Black or African American.from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 93.7% of professional pilots in the U.S.
"That's a lot of money. And financial institutions are not jumping at the bit to loan that kind of money to an aviation student," Claiborne said. "We don't have these long generations of pilots in the family.", a nonprofit that Claiborne co-founded by Claiborne in 2016 that's dedicated to increasing that number through scholarships and mentorships.New York's WABC TV.
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