How has your aviation journey been different than planned?
Deborah:
I started in aviation as an eighteen- year old flight attendant, who wanted to travel. I never knew what would be happening 5, 10 or even 20 years in the future! Sometimes the best things that happen are all unplanned. Soon after I was interested in flying, I started asking a lot of questions to all of the pilots that I worked with (there was no internet to reference back then). Since I did not have anyone in my family that was involved in aviation and I grew up in a small town in Connecticut, I did not know where to start. They told me “just go to a local airport and take an introductory flight”. So, I spoke with my grandfather, who was one of my mentors, and he came with me for my introductory flight. I loved it! On that day, he said if you want to start flight training let’s buy the books now and I will help you get started. From that day on, I managed to do my flight training 3 days a week, and continue to fly as a flight attendant the other 4, also while going to college online through Thomas Edison State College. I was able to earn my ratings approximately every 6 months and eventually earned my CFI/CFII/MEI. I flight instructed for 4 years and eventually made my dreams come true by making my way back to Continental Express as a pilot. Once I became a check airman and was doing training in the aircraft at night, I met 2 UPS pilots who were on the same night schedule as me. This was 1996. They asked me if I thought about flying for UPS. At the time, I did not know anything about UPS or flying cargo. Over the course of a few dinners that week, they both convinced me that UPS would be a great fit for me and my career. I applied and in Dec. of 1997 was offered a class in March of 1998 as a Flight Engineer on the DC-8. I have loved all of my 23 years at UPS and the experiences I have had. This career trajectory has been such an amazing path that I would have never thought about. I am grateful for all of my experiences, both as a flight attendant and pilot. It is really the people that make the difference.