I recently had the chance to get to know Joiwind Alexander. Joiwind earned her PPL, then upgraded to CPL, MEI, CFI, CFII, and ended up in the right seat of an ERJ. She got furloughed, and now flies a corporate jet out of her hometown. Seems like a life-long story ? Well, not exaclty… all of this took place within the last two years ! She kindly accepted to answer my questions about flying, instructing, and working in various domains of the flying industry. There are lessons for all of us in her story…

I was a late bloomer when it came to flying.  But then again, that ran in my family.  Though my grandmother learned to fly when she was only 17 years old, she didn’t get into other endeavors, (such as racing cars) until she was in her 30s.  My aunt, who is currently a corporate pilot, did not start flying until she was in her 30s.  So it came as no surprise that it took me as long to make the best decision I’ve ever made for myself.

Since I’m originally from the Netherlands, I traveled a lot as a kid and therefore spent a lot of time in airplanes.  I knew at a young age that I loved to fly, but even though I had other female pilots in my own family, it did not cross my mind as a viable occupation for me.  It certainly was not a profession that was encouraged by anyone in the beach town where I grew up.  So for a lot of years I went the traditional office job route, but was continually unhappy.  I finally got to a point where I decided that life was too short to “just live” and that I needed to discover what my passions were and then jump of the metaphorical cliff.  My first attempts at discovering my passions were to go skydiving and to buy a motorcycle.  My passion for motorcycles remains to this day when I’m not up in airplanes.  A year after my first skydive I decided to get certified so I could jump consistently on my own.  Though I loved the rush of skydiving, I was always disappointed that I had to come back down so quickly.  And there in lies the beginning of my flying career.  As I discovered that what I truly wanted was to stay up in the sky, all of the pieces of the puzzle fell together really quickly: my family history, my gypsy life-style growing up, my love for being up high, my passion for speed.  It all came together in flying airplanes.

Once I decided that I wanted to fly, I knew it would not be enough to simply fly for fun and that I would want to make a profession of it.  So I researched flight schools with the end in mind.  I found a flight school that would provide the accelerated training I was looking for to prepare me for the aviation industry and then worked backwards to find a small uncontrolled airport to do my private pilot.

The first airplane I learned to fly was a 1968 Cessna 172 that looked pretty beat up but the engine was reliable.  It had steam gauges which were not even in the standard formation that would be implemented in most airplanes later on.  The turn coordinator was inoperative for all of my training, so I really had to learn to feel the airplane in order to know how to use my feet.  It was incredibly frustrating at times, but well worth it in the end.  There were days when I never wanted to step foot in another airplane.  But then the rush of succeeding would be so great that I would forget all about the struggle to get there.

After I completed my private pilot, I went to a program called ATP to get the rest of my ratings.  It’s a three month program that takes you from private pilot all the way through your CFIs (including MEI, CFI, and CFII) using primarily Piper Seminoles as the training airplane.  At the time the CFI package was a part of the program (that has changed since then).  I honestly believe that the best way to become a better pilot is to try to teach someone else how to fly!  It requires that you know the information well enough to be able to explain it to someone else simply and effectively.

Once I completed the ATP program I was hired on as an instructor.  My first month as an instructor was absolutely terrifying!  Suddenly I was responsible for this airplane, for teaching my student, for making sure we didn’t bust airspace or hit other airplanes, or other airplanes hit us, etc.  Early on I had nightmares every night that I had fallen asleep while my student was flying and woke up while we were 30 feet off the ground.   Thankfully I never had to go through soloing a student because I only instructed those who already had their PPL, since that was required to come in to the program.  Though I won’t exactly say that I enjoyed instructing, and I have a huge respect for those who do love it, I think it was absolutely necessary for honing my skills and allowing me to move on to the airlines so quickly.

Towards the end of my instructing job I took a CRJ course with ATP that gave me my first introduction to the glass cockpit, as well as flows and checklists that are used by most airlines.  This made my transition to airline training that much easier.

I worked for Expressjet for a year before being furloughed.  It was another invaluable experience in my short aviation career.  Though I was often mistaken for the flight attendant by passengers, there was almost always respect among the pilots for one another other (male or female).  My aunt had said to me when I first started training that being female, if you were a good stick you would have all the respect in the world.  If you were a bad stick, you would be considered worse than the worst male pilot.  What I enjoyed about the airline industry was the variety of pilots that I had the opportunity to fly with.  You can learn something from every pilot, whether it is what to do or what not to do.  The downside of the airline industry for me personally is that you have very little control over the entire experience for the passenger.  And your own drive or motivation is of little importance.  As long as you are safe and legal and don’t break anything, you are doing your job.  For many this is exactly what they want, and I know lots of long time airline pilots who absolutely love their jobs.  But for me, my furlough ended up being a blessing in disguise.

I was able to get a fabulous corporate flying job out of my hometown.  Much of it is back to basic flying: filing flight plans, checking weather, ensuring the plane is good to fly.  But I also have the responsibility of making the flight a great experience for the folks in the back.  As my boss told me when I first came on, flying is only 10% of the job.  The other 90% includes everything from ensuring our plane is stocked, to setting up transportation, to booking hotels, to working with customs, and many other unforeseen items.  For me, this is perfect fit.

One of the great things about aviation is the variety of flying jobs that are out there.  My furloughed friends are doing all sorts of things: flying cargo, instructing, contract flying, signing on with other airlines, shuttling airplanes, traffic watch, aerial photography and a host of other flying and non-flying jobs.

Though aviation is still dominated by men, there are more and more female pilots working professionally.  As with any other female pilot, I have stories where people don’t believe that I’m actually a pilot.  I learned early on that I can get upset by this, or I can be amused by it.  The latter allows me to be confident in the skills I have to offer and to maintain great working relationships with everyone I come in contact with.  It’s all about how you carry yourself.  If you respect yourself, you will be respected.

Each time I am on a trip I am stunned again by how lucky I am to be a working pilot.  I cannot imagine doing anything else with my life.  I decided that I wanted to live a passionate life and hear I am living my dream. I hope for each person, debating whether to pursue his or her passions, that they’ll stand on the edge of that metaphorical cliff and take the leap.

If you liked this interview, don’t miss Jessica Cox, the first women without arms to earn her pilot license !