When Donna Garrett was growing up in Los Angeles, it didn’t seem strange that her mother worked as an airline pilot. Because her father had the same profession, the captain of a plane seemed like a normal thing to do.
“It was a boring job my parents did when they went to work,” laughs Donna, now 26.
In fact, her mother, Suzy Garrett, was opening a deck in the sky, being one of the first women pilots for the US regional carrier SkyWest.
As Donna grew older, she began to notice. Inspired by her parents’ passion and the freedom they enjoyed to explore the world, she decided to pursue her own flying career.
In September 2019, Donna also flew a plane with Suzy as the first mother-daughter pilot team of SkyWest.
That flight took place over a year ago, but in recent weeks, Donna and Suzy’s story has gone viral unexpectedly. The photos of the two together, smiling proudly in the cabin, spread on social networks.
“I knew it was really special,” said Suzy, who was celebrating 30 years at SkyWest when she flew with her daughter.
He remembers the “reaction of everyone else” as one of the most beautiful of the experience.
The two hoped to repeat the 2020 experience, but their plans were halted by the Covid pandemic. Right now, Suzy is in Los Angeles and Donna is in Chicago and, like many families, they haven’t been able to spend much time together this year.
Defying the stereotype
While the image of the two captured a happy moment in aviation, it also symbolized an important stage in the difficult journey that many women pilots face.
Suzy Garrett began working for SkyWest in 1989. She had dreamed of becoming an aviator since falling in love with air travel on the second flight from Arizona to Los Angeles when she was in eighth grade. Looking out of the cabin window, she was captivated by the sunset.
But the path to this goal did not seem so clear.
“Women weren’t really pilots at the time, and the military was the only way to become unique, but I wasn’t tall enough for the military,” says Suzy.
Determined to succeed, she enrolled in aviation school at Mount San Antonio College in California in 1984. She later worked as a flight instructor for several years before getting her first job at SkyWest.
During his career at SkyWest, he flew with Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner turboprops, Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia, and now Bombardier CRJ200, CRJ700 and CRJ900 NextGen.
Thirty years ago, American aviation was dominated by men.
Organizations, including Fly for the Culture and Sisters of the Skies, are working to make aviation more accessible, promoting scholarships, supporting representation and mentoring underrepresented aviation groups.
Suzy says she has not faced any discrimination in the cabin and felt she had “the same amount of opportunities” as her male counterparts.
“Outside of the profession, I had to conquer people,” she says.
While aviation still has a blatant problem of diversity, Suzy says she was thrilled to see attitudes change in the three decades since she flew. She believes it may have helped inspire young women to enter aviation, she says.
“It was great to know that I actually inspired my daughter.”
Donna started flying when she was in college after her pilot father taught her.
“I absolutely fell in love with it,” she says.
He later studied at two flight schools in Southern California, completed his training in Michigan, and did his flying lessons working for smaller companies, including Scenic Airlines, which operates air tours in the Grand Canyon. He joined SkyWest in April 2019.
“I’ll be honest, I didn’t realize that my mother was a pioneer in this field until quite recently,” says Donna.
“I grew up seeing her in this role and only after I grew up, in fact, following this career, I realized how rare her position is in this field and I realized that what she was doing at the time it was very impressive. ”
“If the younger girls see the women there in the cabin, they’ll inspire them to pursue something they may never have thought possible for them,” says Donna.
Both Donna and Suzy talk fondly about the time they got to fly together. Between September 4-5, 2019, the duo operated a CRJ700 between Los Angeles, California, San Diego, California, Fresno, California, and Salt Lake City, Utah.
“I’ve never had the opportunity to fly with such an experienced captain,” says Donna.
Suzy added that in the flight deck, their family ties took a secondary place to professionalism.
“But it’s very exciting to see her sitting next to me, I felt proud and happy to have Donna with me at work,” she says. “It’s indescribable, I’m very, very proud of her, she does a fantastic job.”
Suzy hopes her son joins the cabin next time. He is a recently qualified pilot and will soon join SkyWest.
“What I think would be really amazing is that Donna is the captain and he is her first officer,” says Suzy. “And maybe I’m sitting in the back as a passenger. I think it would be fun. ”
“This would be an absolute dream come true,” Donna added.
Donna’s brother was due to join SkyWest earlier this year, but his employment was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“It was definitely a fight,” says Suzy, reflecting on the impact of Covid-19 on the aerospace industry.
Both women hope the industry will recover, and airlines will start hiring again soon.
“In this industry, we’ve seen a lot of ups and downs, different cycles,” says Suzy. “This is temporary, we will return and in the end, we will have a rewarding career, which I think many people would appreciate.”
Meanwhile, Donna emphasizes the importance of finding good mentors in the aviation industry, acknowledging that she has had the privilege of having role models in her own family.
“If you can find other friends, colleagues, mentors, people to help you on this challenging but rewarding journey, to get into aviation […] to have other people there, to help you get through, it’s something that makes the whole journey is easier. ”
“We worked very well together,” Donna said. “And it was indescribable how much fun it was to fly with her and how proud she made me be with her.”