Linda Pauwels | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 1963 (age 61–62) |
| Known for | First Latina Captain and First Latina Check Airman at American Airlines |
Linda Pauwels (born 1963) is the First Latina Captain at American Airlines. She is also the youngest woman jet captain (cargo) at age 25 on a Boeing 707, in 1988. [1] [2]
Pauwels was born Linda Pfeiffer in San Pedro, Buenos Aires, she has been married to Frederick Pauwels, airline pilot, since 1981, and has two children. [3] Her grandfather is Polish General Franciszek “Radwan” Pfeiffer, commander of longest fighting unit during Warsaw Uprising. [4] She graduated from Miami Dade College’s North Campus at age 22 in 1985 and was inducted into the MDC Hall of Fame in 2005. [5]
She has been with American Airlines since 1988, has also served as Check Airman (instructor/evaluator) on A-320 and presently on B-787, the latter as a designated examiner on behalf of FAA. [2] In 2000, she became American Airlines' first Hispanic woman captain on a McDonnell Douglas MD-80 and, in 2015, the company's first Hispanic woman to be a Check Airman. [6]
Before American Airlines, she was a pilot for Southern Air Transport. They were a military and civilian contractor, known for having been owned by the CIA before Congress required them to divest ownership. [4]
She was a columnist for the Orange County Register and has published two books, Beyond Haiku: Pilots Write Poetry, and Beyond Haiku:Women Pilots Write Poetry, which features never-before published poems by Amelia Earhart. [7] [8]
In celebration of International Women’s Day of 2021, American Airlines operated a flight with an all-female crew both on the plane and the ground from Miami to Dallas-Fort Worth. Linda Pauwels led the flight crew. [9]