"If you can see it, you can be it."
About Theresa
Theresa M. Claiborne retired on May 25, 2024 as Captain of the Boeing 787 (Dreamliner) at United Airlines. She was one of 24 Black women pilots out of 17,000+ at United.
Her career in aviation began on June 20, 1981, when she was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force. On September 16, 1982, she made history as the first Black woman pilot in the Air Force. She went on to become the first Black woman to serve as an aircraft commander and instructor for the KC-135 during her seven years on active duty and 13 years in the Air Force Reserves.
On January 15, 1990, Theresa joined United Airlines as a flight officer starting as a flight engineer on the Boeing 727. She later flew the Boeing 737, 747, 757, and 767, upgrading to captain on the Boeing 757/767 in 2018 and transitioning to the Boeing 787 in 2021. Over her career, she logged more than 23,000 flight hours.
Although now retired from the flight deck, she continues with United in a contracting role. Theresa is the President Emeritus of Sisters of the Skies, a nonprofit dedicated to creating pathways for Black women in aviation, a board member of the Grand Dames of Aviation, and a past board member of the Wasp Museum in Sweetwater Texas.
A trailblazer throughout her career, Theresa has received many prestigious military and civilian honors beginning with the Tuskegee Airmen Award of Merit (1983). She received an honorary doctorate from the Vaughn College of Aeronautics. Other recent accolades include being a 2025 Ebony Power 100 STEM Trailblazer, an inductee into the Women in Aviation International Pioneer Hall of Fame (2025), the Katherine Wright Trophy award winner (2024), the Brigadier General Charles E. McGee Aviation Inspiration Award recipient (2024), the United Airlines BEACON Legacy Award winner (2024), the Willa Brown Pioneer Award winner (2024), and the Tuskegee NEXT Trailblazer Award winner (2023).
Theresa has a degree in communications with a minor in journalism from California State University of Sacramento. She also attended the University of California at Berkeley for Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC).
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