First Officer Deon Byrnes Flies Dreamliners From Houston

A Continental Airlines First Officer was recently featured on a segment on television station KTRK called "Closer Look".

The segment features an interview with Continental Airlines First Officer Deon Byrnes, who is regularly a crewmember aboard the carrier's Dreamliners flying out of Houston.

Byrnes also happens to be an African-American woman.

Byrnes says that her job is to "fly this plane and get the passengers safely from point 'A' to point 'B'," but she is also considered something of a pioneer in the field. She said that passengers often say they're surprised to see a black female pilot on the flight deck.

She said when she started 10 years ago, there was only one other black female flying for Continental. A former military officer, the station reports that she was part of the first all-female flight crew to fly a 787.

Byrnes is also a wife and mother. She regularly speaks at local Houston schools to girls in an effort to interest them in aviation careers.

"Just being a black female, I'm still considered something of a pioneer in the field," she said. But she also hopes that through her outreach efforts, there will be a time when a black female pilot will not be such an unusual sight in the front office of an airliner.

(Image from file)

FMI: www.continental.com