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A4A Celebrates Women’s History Month
March 24, 2026
March is Women’s History Month, and as part of our “Red, Flight & Blue–Celebrating America 250” Campaign, Airlines for America (A4A) is proud to honor some of the trailblazing female aviators who paved the way for women to reach the skies.
Willa Brown
Lieutenant Willa Brown was the first African-American woman to earn a commercial pilot’s license. Brown broke more barriers, going on to become the first Black commercial pilot and officer in the Civil Air Patrol. She went on to found the Coffrey School of Aeronautics in Illinois, making it the first Black-owned and operated private flight training academy in the nation. A lifelong advocate for gender and racial equality, Brown advocated tirelessly for desegregation. Her school became part of the government-funded the Civilian Pilot Training Program established to provide the U.S. with enough experienced aviators to improve military preparedness. The program led to the creation of the Tuskegee Airmen, with Brown directly responsible for training over 200 future Tuskegee Airmen and instructors.
Katherine Sui Fun Cheung
Katherine Sui Fun Cheung was the first Asian-American woman to become a pilot. Born in China, Cheung immigrated to the United States in 1921. She earned her pilot’s license just over ten years later, and went on to perform at fairs and air shows across California.
Amelia Earheart
Amelia Earhart is best known for being the first woman to make a solo and nonstop across the United States and across the Atlantic. Earhart took her first plane ride in 1920 and later recalled, “As soon as we left the ground, I knew I had to fly.” Following her milestone flights across the U.S. and Atlantic, Earhart planned to become the first woman to fly around the world. On May 21, 1937, Earhart and her navigator took off from Oakland, California, to begin the trip. Weeks later, the duo went missing near Howland Island in the Pacific Ocean. Earhart was an advocate for women in aviation, organizing the first All-Woman’s Air Derby in 1929.
Hazel Ying Lee
Hazel Ying Lee was one of the first Asian-American women to hold a pilot’s license. Lee’s parents were Chinese immigrants who raised her and her siblings in Portland, Oregon. Despite growing up around rampant anti-Chinese bias of the time, Lee went on to join the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), a group of female pilots working to support the U.S. Air Force, making her the first Chinese-American woman to fly for the U.S. military.
Geraldine Mock
Geraldine (“Jerrie”) Mock took up Amelia Earhart’s mantle, becoming the first American and first woman to fly solo around the world. Mock’s trip began on March 19, 1964, in her native Ohio, and she completed the journey 29 days later. Her accomplishment earned her the Federal Aviation Administration’s Gold Medal for Exceptional Service in 1964. Her plane, The Spirit of Columbus, is on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., today.
Harriet Quimby
On August 1, 1911, Harriet Quimby became the first American woman to earn a pilot certificate. The Michigan native was also the first woman to fly at night, and in 1912, she became the first woman to pilot her own aircraft across the English Channel. Quimby was not only a trailblazer in the skies but also worked as one of the few female journalists during her early career. In 1902 she took a job as a writer for the Dramatic Review in San Francisco, and the following year she began writing for Leslie’s Weekly in New York City. Quimby attended the 1910 Belmont Park Aviation Meet and was so inspired by John Moisant’s aerial performance that she asked him to teach her to fly.