tdh8192

One of First Female Pilots Retiring

JOEL ANDERSON Associated Press Writer

GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) - As a single mother of three, Esther Horn didn't get much encouragement when she whimsically decided to leave her job as a manicurist and pursue her dream of flying airplanes.

One of her first flight instructors told her he would never teach another woman if she failed to get her pilot's license. Her father told her that women only went to flight school to meet men, among other things.

More than three decades later, the American Airlines Boeing 757 and 767 captain is retiring because of a Federal Aviation Administration retirement age mandate.

"You can't let things get in the way of your goals,'' said Horn, who turns 60 on April 11. "You've just got to push obstacles out of the way.''

Horn piloted her last flight Wednesday. She swung through Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on her final trip, from Las Vegas to Orange County, Calif.

Horn earned her pilot's license in 1972. In 1979 she became the 11th female pilot hired by Western Airlines. Air California hired her in 1981 as a first officer on a 737, and she became a 737 captain a year later.

American bought Air California in 1987, and she flew 757s and 767s as a first officer. She became a captain in 1991, first of MD-80s, and then 757s and 767s in January 1993.

"To say that American Airlines is proud of Captain Horn would be an understatement,'' said captain Robert Kudwa, American's chief pilot. "Although being one of the first female pilots to reach captain is quite an accomplishment, we are equally proud of the professionalism she brought along with her 26-year career.''

Piloting commercial jetliners is still a male-dominated field. At American Airlines, 582 of 12,000 pilots are women. Of the 6,003 American captains, 80 are women.

American was the first major carrier to hire a woman pilot in 1973. It also was the first airline to have a female captain in 1986 and to have an all-woman flight crew in 1987.

"Esther was really a pioneer,'' said Susan Staples, an American captain and Horn's longtime friend. "She's a great role model. She paved the way for others.''

Horn says she'll miss the camaraderie among pilots, and the people who helped her along the way, from small-plane pilot in 1971 to piloting jets.

After retirement, Horn said she would return to her home in Dana Point, Calif., where she lives with her husband, Jim.

Horn said she'll take some time off to rest, then probably resume her painting career. Horn is an accomplished artist, with paintings hanging in the American Airlines C.R. Smith Museum in Fort Worth and the San Diego Museum of Art.

"The world is open,'' Horn said. "There's so much stuff that I want to do. I never thought it would be over so quick.''

__________________
- Tom