She is now a first officer based in Louisville, Kentucky. A double major in business administration and hospitality and tourism management while at the College of Charleston, Warren worked in the Charleston wedding and event planning industry for about a year before deciding she wanted a career that allowed her to travel full time. The College Today caught up with Warren between flights to hear about her promotion from the galley to the cockpit.
After I finished flight attendant training, I was based in Seattle and my first assignment was a redeye overnight flight to JFK. When the pilots need a bathroom break, the flight attendants go up to the flight deck to guard their seats, so that night was my first experience in a real flight deck.
The captain raved about the views from his seat, his career path and lifetime of wonderful memories. He encouraged me to pursue the pilot career, and I was hooked from that day on. Funny enough, my first flight as a first officer was a flight to JFK. The transition was quite difficult but very worth it. It required a lot of determination and grueling days at times. I worked through my pilot ratings during the height of COVID when my flight attendant schedule was reduced.
There is a series of licenses that one has to achieve to get to the commercial airlines. Each of these includes a series of written, oral and practical flight exams. I juggled both the CFI teaching job and flight attendant job, which required many seven day work weeks. The hardest part is probably learning how to land, funny enough. There are a variety of factors that go into landings including weather and wind calculations, runway condition, aircraft weight, etc.
These factors are always changing so it makes each landing an enjoyable and sometimes challenging experience. We are taking people to new places for a variety of reasons; I love to speak with as many as I can to connect, celebrate or support the best I can. I love that every flight brings something new. Each takeoff and landing bring new challenges and learning experiences, and we constantly get to meet new people and learn how to work with different crew-members. The Embraer is also very fun, smart jet to fly.
