Captain Yokko Okamura / Horizon Air

"I was not trying to become a first, I just wanted to be an airline pilot". 

Captain Yokko's drive to become an airline pilot was truly remarkable, overcoming vast obstacles at a time when Japanese women were not allowed to become pilots. An inspiring journey pursuing her dreams to become an airline pilot. 

Check out more aviation podcasts and content here:
 https://www.youtube.com/@UCf4iOF34spaZUAC-ZdOUwJQ 


“The information provided in this video is for entertainment purposes only. This is a personal vlog and the opinions expressed are solely those of the participants and do not represent any associations or institutions they may or may not be affiliated with unless expressly stated.”

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to the Pilot Life, the show where we sit down with people who are passionate about aviation. My name is Brendan. I've been a commercial airline pilot for over 20 years, and in that time I've heard some incredible stories. This is a show that I share those with you. Welcome aboard. You know, I I have a feeling that when people see your face on the podcast, they're gonna have a big smile on their face just like I did when I first saw you when you walked in that door. Because it has been what? How long has it been since we've seen each other, you think?

SPEAKER_03 0:41

Ten years.

SPEAKER_01 0:42

Ten years at least. Thank you so much for agreeing to sit down and to catch up. I've probably known you for I think we first met on the CRJ, right? Because you didn't fly the Q400, did you?

SPEAKER_03 0:52

I did.

SPEAKER_01 0:53

Oh, you did?

SPEAKER_03 0:54

Yeah, we flew together, Q4.

SPEAKER_01 0:56

We did.

SPEAKER_03 0:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:57

You must have blocked that that Adam. I did. Yeah, okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:03

That's what I thought. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:04

Because you weren't out in Denver, were you?

SPEAKER_03 1:06

Uh I was not based in Denver.

SPEAKER_01 1:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:09

But I flew from Denver quite often.

SPEAKER_01 1:13

Got it. Got it.

SPEAKER_03 1:14

Are you in Denver based?

SPEAKER_01 1:15

Yeah, when I got hired, I was in the Denver base. Okay. We we all got hired into the Denver base. I see. And then it closed down a couple years after that during the economic crash, you know, all that stuff. All that stuff. You've been in the aviation business for a while, right?

SPEAKER_03 1:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:29

Um, so right now, if we were to catch up with you right now, you've been with Horizon Airlines for how long?

SPEAKER_03 1:35

31 years.

SPEAKER_01 1:36

Oh my gosh, Yoko. Does it feel like it does it feel like it's um gone by fast?

SPEAKER_03 1:42

Yeah, I feel like I've been here three years.

SPEAKER_01 1:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:46

Yeah, definitely not 31 years.

SPEAKER_01 1:48

No. It was always really cool to fly with you, and it's so great to have you on onto the podcast. Um a pilot who I think most people looked up to, um, a captain who was who could really handle anything. You were always very level, very cool, regardless of what was happening. You know, some people when it gets kind of stressful, people kind of amplify to match that energy, and you were always just cool as a cat.

SPEAKER_03 2:14

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:15

But what's what was your first memory as as a child?

SPEAKER_03 2:18

The biggest memory was when I saw a Boeing 747 at an airport, Tokyo International Airport, I was five years old.

SPEAKER_01 2:26

Yeah. And you were born there?

SPEAKER_03 2:28

I was born in Japan. And uh when I saw the well, first of all, my I I have no idea why we were there. I asked my parents, my brother and sister, we went to Tokyo International Airport, but they didn't care. But I clearly remember, I was only five, and the first time I saw the Boeing 747, I thought that was the biggest, loudest monster in the world.

SPEAKER_00 2:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:55

And I remember I told my parents I wanted to become a monster.

SPEAKER_01 3:02

That's another word for a pilot, huh?

SPEAKER_03 3:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:04

Or you actually wanted to be the airplane.

SPEAKER_03 3:06

I I just didn't know what it was.

SPEAKER_01 3:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:08

I just loved how it looked, how it sounded, and I wanted to become that.

SPEAKER_01 3:15

What did your um dad do?

SPEAKER_03 3:17

Um he owned his own business.

SPEAKER_01 3:19

Oh, he did. Okay. And your mom?

SPEAKER_03 3:22

Housewife.

SPEAKER_01 3:23

Housewife. Okay. So what was your what was your dreams as a child? Like what did you want to be when you you know grew up? What what were the other what what were the options for you?

SPEAKER_03 3:33

So my option was, oh, first, I wanted to become a monster.

SPEAKER_01 3:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:37

A few years later, I learned the monster that I did admire was an airplane. At that moment, I wanted to become an pilot. And I even told my parents that I wanted to become a pilot. But I remember my mom said it was a probably yeah, seven, eight years old, few years, few a few years after I saw the first time, the Boeing 747. And she said, that's great. That's great, but you're a girl. You cannot fly an airplane. That's what she said. I believed her. At that time in Japan, that was the norm. Very quickly, my dream to become a pilot melted away. Yeah, but wanted to become a flight attendant. Flying all over the world in my favorite airplane, that sounded really good.

SPEAKER_01 4:37

Yeah. And was that something that would have been fairly easy for you to pursue over there?

SPEAKER_03 4:42

Oh, no, I had to speak English fluently. So I always wanted to become a flight attendant. And but my grade was not good, and my I couldn't speak English well. I asked my teacher, English teacher, and she told me that the best way to learn English is to live in America. So I decided to become a high school exchange student.

SPEAKER_00 5:04

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:05

Yeah. And I went to a small town in Indiana.

SPEAKER_00 5:08

Really?

SPEAKER_03 5:08

Spent for one year as a high school exchange student.

SPEAKER_01 5:11

How old were you?

SPEAKER_03 5:12

High school senior high school. So 18, 17, 18 years old.

SPEAKER_01 5:16

Were your parents happy about that or were they My parents are so cool. Really?

SPEAKER_03 5:22

I don't remember they said even once no to me.

SPEAKER_00 5:26

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 5:27

Like I loved to play sports. I always had a dream and I always worked very hard. So when I told my parents I need to study English, the only way is to live in America.

SPEAKER_01 5:39

And had you traveled over to America prior to that?

SPEAKER_03 5:42

No.

SPEAKER_01 5:42

Had you flown anywhere?

SPEAKER_03 5:44

No.

SPEAKER_01 5:44

Had you been on an airplane?

SPEAKER_03 5:45

No.

SPEAKER_01 5:46

Nothing.

SPEAKER_03 5:47

Nothing. So Oh, you mean the airplane means to visit overseas?

SPEAKER_01 5:50

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:51

No.

SPEAKER_01 5:52

Nothing.

SPEAKER_03 5:52

Nothing.

SPEAKER_01 5:53

You've you haven't been on an airplane, you're 18 and you're leaving home to go to America, to go to Indiana.

SPEAKER_03 6:00

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 6:00

And how did they pick your family?

SPEAKER_03 6:02

I went to uh the company who um help us find a good host family, the good match. So I I like the small town in Indiana. I didn't say Indiana actually. I said I wanted to go to a small town in the Midwest. I love the dog and I'd like to have a sister and a brother, and then the company picked the right one.

SPEAKER_01 6:24

What was the airplane that you went and got on? Do you read 47? Oh, it was. For who? What was the airline?

SPEAKER_03 6:30

Uh United Airlines.

SPEAKER_01 6:31

United Airlines.

SPEAKER_03 6:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:32

Straight from Tokyo. To Seattle.

SPEAKER_03 6:36

And we had some uh orientation in Seattle. Yeah. And then from there, just split it all over the world country.

SPEAKER_01 6:43

Do you remember anything from that first flight?

SPEAKER_03 6:46

I was nervous.

SPEAKER_01 6:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:48

Yeah. Because I never I mean I remember from Seattle to Chicago O'Hare. And from Chicago, Ohare, I connected by myself and to Indianapolis.

SPEAKER_01 6:59

Didn't speak any English.

SPEAKER_03 7:00

Oh, uh very little. Very, very little. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:03

I always think about that now because we have so many tools available to us. We have like a translating app on our phone that we can say, translate this to Japanese, and then I could show it to you and you could read it and then you could respond. We back back then.

SPEAKER_03 7:17

No, paper.

SPEAKER_01 7:19

Paper book, right? You had to go and read each of those words. All right. So you show up to this family, and your goal is study for one year, learn English.

SPEAKER_03 7:28

Right.

SPEAKER_01 7:28

Go back to Japan and become a flight attendant.

SPEAKER_03 7:30

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 7:31

What was your thoughts of the country?

SPEAKER_03 7:32

And I loved it.

SPEAKER_01 7:34

Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 7:34

Yeah, I missed home though. Yeah. I was only 18 years old and I couldn't speak English well. But I had a lot of friends who helped me get through the high school craziness. And then my host family, my parents, American parents, they were just wonderful. From the moment I met, they were just like my parents. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:59

Yeah. Well, because of them, I bec was able to become a pilot.

SPEAKER_01 8:04

So you study for a for a year? Still gonna become a flight attendant? Yes. Did you fly back home after that year?

SPEAKER_03 8:11

Yes. Yes. I finished my high school in Japan and I had to make a decision what to do after that. And because I couldn't decide, I decided to go back to my host family.

SPEAKER_00 8:23

Oh really?

SPEAKER_03 8:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:24

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 8:25

Yeah, I wanted to study English more.

SPEAKER_00 8:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 8:27

And I didn't know where to go except a small town in Indiana, and I didn't know anybody except my host family. So I went back.

SPEAKER_01 8:35

What would you say to someone who's in that same place, 18, you know, 18 or 19 or 20, they don't quite know what they want to do yet.

SPEAKER_03 8:43

Follow your heart. That's what I did. It could be anything. You know, at that age, age 18, 17, it could, you know, even making mistakes, that's a good learning.

SPEAKER_01 8:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 8:55

Yeah, just follow your heart.

SPEAKER_01 8:56

Yeah. Okay, so then how does this dream of becoming a pilot happen?

SPEAKER_03 9:01

So after I went back to Indiana, it was a beautiful summer day. We were driving a country road, cornfield, Indiana, 360 degrees, just a cornfield. And I saw a red Cessna. I told my uh host family, host parents, that I my dream was going to become an uh airline pilot. My host parents said, You can fly, you can become the airline pilot, that's what you want to do. They took me to an air show, introduced me to female airline pilot.

SPEAKER_01 9:39

And that's probably the first pilot that you met, right? Yes. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 9:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:43

Wearing the full getup, stripes and hat and everything, huh?

SPEAKER_03 9:48

Yeah, and she was standing in front of a big cargo airplane.

SPEAKER_01 9:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:53

And she said what?

SPEAKER_03 9:55

I remember the dream I had was impossible in my mind. But now there was a possibility. At that moment, I told myself, can I do this? And my host parents said, Yes, you can. I believed them. I believe I believed what they said. The only thing I was able to do at that time, I'm gonna do it.

SPEAKER_01 10:33

So do you go out to the airport and start taking flying lessons?

SPEAKER_03 10:36

No, I I so on the way home, I they stop by a bookstore and we pick up a huge, like a telephone, old telephone book, like a five-inches telephone book. It's all about colleges degrees. And I find aviation um degree it everywhere in the United States. Oh, I visited a few of them. And I what I picked one in San Diego. I picked the city first.

SPEAKER_01 11:02

Yeah. Well, it's beautiful there, isn't it? Yes. And it's a great place to learn how to fly because you get lots of great weather. There's also some good practice for instrument stuff. So tell me about that first flight.

SPEAKER_03 11:14

Oh, my demo flight. Yeah. Yeah. It was in San Diego, beautiful day. And it's crazy. Crazy beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 11:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:25

Yeah. Noisier than I thought. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:27

What was the airplane?

SPEAKER_03 11:29

Cessna 152.

unknown 11:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:31

Small a small uh airport in San Diego. Yeah, that was the first time I flew the airplane. And I knew I wanted to do it, but at that moment I knew this got I gotta do this.

SPEAKER_01 11:43

Yeah. Did you go through the whole four years and and end up getting your bachelor's out of that? Yes. Okay, bachelor's in aviation or it was, okay. And then tell me about your first solo.

SPEAKER_03 11:54

My solo flight was not from the flight school in San Diego. I had a lot of a struggle because of my language. Couldn't not understand what the instructors were saying. And because of that, I couldn't not improve. Because, you know, is what do I do? I I can fly, right? I can pull the yoke. Yeah. But if an instructor was saying do this, do that, I couldn't understand. So I found a flight school in Sacramento. Um, there was actually a Japanese instructor there. And I switched my um flight school.

SPEAKER_00 12:30

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 12:31

And I finished my private license there, and I went back to San Diego.

SPEAKER_01 12:35

I see.

SPEAKER_03 12:35

Yeah. And so solo flight, you ask me, yes, I had a Japanese flight instructor.

SPEAKER_01 12:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 12:40

Helped me a lot. Yeah. We spoke in Japanese and English.

SPEAKER_01 12:46

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 12:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:47

Talking on the radio as a new student pilot is very challenging because it's like you're speaking a different language.

SPEAKER_03 12:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:53

And now you're having to do that in English.

SPEAKER_03 12:56

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 12:57

So you kind of have to process it first in Japanese what it means, right? And then say, okay, now how do I translate this to English? You kind of have to take multiple steps to get there. How did you handle the radios?

SPEAKER_03 13:08

I couldn't do it. So my private license was relatively easy. Yeah. Because we just we'll just fly the airplane, right? Right. But the obstacle was the next flight instruments. You know, instrument rating. Now, uh, just instead of flying, I have to listen to air traffic controllers and follow their instructions. Another obstacle there. Yeah. Yeah. I at that point I could fly, but I could not understand what the ATC was talking about. Well, uh, I my instructor told me that I was still in San Diego. My instructor told me that I should go to a small town and get the license. But I didn't want to I didn't want to go to a small town. Because I wanted to become a professional pilot. If I could not fly in the busiest airspace, then what? What do I do? And I explained to that to my flight instructor, and then he was very cool. And he helped me out. He he he didn't really give me an English lesson, ATC lessons, and then also myself, I carry a radio. I listened to uh um air traffic um control exchange, you know, between pilots and then yeah, I listened to the radio communications everywhere I went. Yeah when I was taking a shower, when I was eating, and when I was driving, I even talked speaking with the air traffic controllers in my dream.

SPEAKER_00 14:36

Really?

SPEAKER_03 14:36

Yeah, but that I did it. I got my training done, and that flight instructor is now my husband.

SPEAKER_00 14:44

Really?

SPEAKER_03 14:45

Yeah, so I had like uh Japanese parents and then American parents and my husband. Yeah, they're really big part of my career.

SPEAKER_01 14:53

Did you ever think about stopping at any point?

SPEAKER_03 14:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:57

Was there someone there that then talked you into continuing, or was it just you just had to kind of work through that?

SPEAKER_03 15:04

I already had great mentors, like my parents. My parents really raised me that uh, you know, if you believe in yourself, you can do it. And also my American parents also said the same thing. Don't give up, raise your raise the bar high and aim for it. If you don't give up, you can do it. And then also my husband too. All of them um continuously telling me that. So I remember it. Yeah. So when I every time I I faced obstacles, I had only two uh only one choice. Just keep doing it. Don't give up.

SPEAKER_01 15:44

Did you ever have any problems on any of your check rides? Did you ever fail any of the check rides?

SPEAKER_03 15:48

Or no, I have not.

SPEAKER_01 15:49

Passed it all, huh?

SPEAKER_03 15:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:51

Did you do better in uh academics in the aviation program than you did, like say in high school?

SPEAKER_03 15:58

I had to study English.

SPEAKER_01 16:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:00

I had to I used my Japanese English diction, I used my Japanese English dictionary, translated everything. It took me probably five times longer than my classmates.

SPEAKER_01 16:10

And is your goal at this time to become an airline pilot? Yes. That was the end goal. Okay. So did you have to then did you go and flight instruct a bit to build up time? Where at?

SPEAKER_03 16:23

In San Diego.

SPEAKER_01 16:24

Oh, you did?

SPEAKER_03 16:24

Yes, Southern California.

SPEAKER_01 16:26

What did your parents think when they heard that their daughter became a pilot over in America?

SPEAKER_03 16:31

They're so proud of me. Yes. Yeah. Um my dad didn't say anything, but uh when he when I I was in the newspaper, magazines, a TV show the first year, the Horizon Air. My mom was going went to the bookstore to buy the magazine and it was sold out. It was and the person at the bookstore said, Well, there was a gentleman's show uh was here about five minutes ago. They bought all of the magazines. So that was my dad.

SPEAKER_01 17:04

Oh a sweetheart.

SPEAKER_03 17:05

Yeah, he bought every magazine and then gave it to all his friends. I didn't realize that, you know, it's a little bit of background. Again, I told I I mentioned that Japan women were not allowed to become an airline pilot when I wanted to become an airline pilot. When I after I finished my school, I had to make a decision, you know, should I go back to Japan and pursue my dream or stay in America and pursue my dream? I wanted to go home. I wanted to go back to Japan. That's my home.

SPEAKER_01 17:38

Were they now hiring?

SPEAKER_03 17:41

Now, yes, but not back then.

SPEAKER_01 17:43

Got it.

SPEAKER_03 17:43

So I but I still, you know, my personality. Yeah, it it there's no to me, you know. I try. Yeah, you know, we never know. So I went back to Japan. I found a school which prepares students for airline interviews. I called a company to find out more information about the program. And I said, hello, um, I am interested in uh uh your school. Can I have some information? And the man on the other end of the phone asked me, Are you inquiring for your son? And I said, No, it's me. It's me. I want to become a pilot. I want to become an airline pilot. Silence. And I really but 15 seconds later, he said, I have a suggestion for you. Great. You see, you go see doctor, you're crazy. He hung up on me.

SPEAKER_00 18:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:49

Well, you know what? America, here I am. You know. So that was easy. So that's why I came to America.

SPEAKER_01 18:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:58

And I pursue all my career here.

SPEAKER_01 19:00

I think it's great for people to hear those kinds of stories. Because it's very easy just to throw out a term about a pilot, oh, blank, right? And just like poofer off an entire like generation of people who heard the words no, you can't do this. And how great to have someone say thank you, but I'm gonna keep on going. You know? Uh okay, so you build up your time doing some CFI work. Are are airlines hiring at this this time? Like what what was the what was the scene? We needed about 2,000 hours. Oh, you did?

SPEAKER_03 19:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:37

Okay. This was the early 90s?

SPEAKER_03 19:38

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 19:39

Okay. And who were you looking at getting hired with?

SPEAKER_03 19:42

So I was in San Diego. When I was flying, I'd never heard Horizon Air. But the flight school we were, uh, some flight instructors went to uh uh Horizon Air from Sky uh from San Diego. And my husband also followed his friends and went to Horizon.

SPEAKER_01 20:03

Okay, and then how long did it take for you to get the call that you were gonna go up and interview?

SPEAKER_03 20:08

One year.

SPEAKER_01 20:08

One year. And then how much time did you have when you got the call? 2000. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 20:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:12

Single engine time, multi-engine time, a mix?

SPEAKER_03 20:15

Mostly multi-engine time.

SPEAKER_01 20:18

Oh, you did? Okay, great. How did you do in in the interview?

SPEAKER_03 20:22

It's pretty good. Yeah, I was very comfortable.

SPEAKER_01 20:25

Did you have to fly the frasca?

SPEAKER_03 20:26

Yes, I did. Yeah, written test in the frasca.

SPEAKER_01 20:30

Did they did they still make you do that like NDB arc to a it was that was by and large the the hardest interview I've ever been through. Was that Frasca?

SPEAKER_03 20:41

Yes. I don't remember we did an NDB arc.

SPEAKER_01 20:46

We had to take off and do an NDB.

SPEAKER_03 20:48

You did.

SPEAKER_01 20:48

No, it was takeoff and it was a two-mile DME arc to an NDB bearing outbound. And you're flying, and it was a fairly fast twin-engine airplane, right? It's like a Cessna 404 or something. I don't know what it was, but it was fast.

SPEAKER_03 21:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:03

Very sensitive too.

SPEAKER_01 21:05

Yeah. With no visuals.

SPEAKER_03 21:07

No.

SPEAKER_01 21:07

No, it's just so you go up there and you just ace it, right?

SPEAKER_03 21:14

I don't know about that, but yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:16

Okay. And then did they tell you that day that you were hired?

SPEAKER_03 21:18

Day or two.

SPEAKER_01 21:19

Okay. Yeah. Okay. What was that phone call like?

SPEAKER_03 21:26

You can name it. My emotion was going wild. Yeah. Exciting, happy. I don't know. Just nervous.

SPEAKER_01 21:40

Yeah. Well, after everyone had it seems like there was a lot of people along the way that helped you. And then there's probably a lot of people along the way who told you it's not possible.

SPEAKER_03 21:49

So when I got hired, um I was not thinking about. But what what surprised me was that yet Japanese units. Newspaper company contact me. And I was told that I became the first Japanese female airline pilot.

SPEAKER_01 22:08

Ever.

SPEAKER_03 22:09

Yeah. When I got the phone call, that was the wake-up call to me. You know, prior to that, I was so focused on schooling, training to become an airline pilot. So when I got a phone call, I was so excited, but like, yes, I just I did it, right? But when I got the message, I mean phone call from a Japanese newspaper company, that was the moment. I it caught me by surprise.

SPEAKER_01 22:38

How did that make you feel?

SPEAKER_03 22:44

Speechless. Yeah, speechless. I didn't think, I was not trying to become a first. I just want to become an airline pilot. I was just dream. There was a dream that the process was exciting.

SPEAKER_01 23:06

Did you feel like there was any kind of weight that you had to carry with that? I mean, because you didn't really ask for that. You were just No, I was excited. You were just a pilot going after that goal, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:17

No, I was very excited because I was able to use that now to motivate others. And I certainly I did a lot of uh speeches and just went to the high school, middle school, motivated young girls and boys. Because of that, my accomplishment, I was able to do that. That was so exciting.

SPEAKER_01 23:38

What airplane were you were you hired onto? Dash 8. The 100. 100. Okay. Is that a 37-seater? Yes. Okay. So you're coming from some kind of a light twin into a turboprop? Yes. 37-seater, fun airplane. Eight-leg days? Mm-hmm. Yeah. How did it go in training? How was it flying that? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 24:02

Ground school was tough again. But I my my husband was flying at Dasha. So he helped me a lot.

SPEAKER_01 24:09

Nice. Nice. Did you still feel like you had some obstacles to get over in terms of barriers like with language and every day. Yeah. Every day you kind of had to bounce over that stuff. So you start off as a first officer. How long did it take for you to get to upgrade?

SPEAKER_03 24:23

Four years.

SPEAKER_01 24:24

Four years. What was that like going from a first officer at you know Horizon to becoming a captain?

SPEAKER_03 24:31

I didn't think I would be able to become a captain when I got hired about Horizon Air. But about took about three years. Yeah. I was eager to take the challenge. New goal, new dream. Yeah. To sit in the left seat.

SPEAKER_01 24:47

What for people who don't know what that is, what does that move feel like to you to go from a first officer to a captain? What did that what did that mean? What was that challenge?

SPEAKER_03 24:57

Responsibility. Yeah. When I was sitting in the uh right seat, first officer, if anything, I had a captain. And the captain took care of a lot of issues arise. But then becoming a captain, something happens, everybody look at me. Now passengers, flight attendants, rampers, and dispatchers, kind of everybody. You know, what do you want to do? And again, back then we didn't have a technology.

SPEAKER_00 25:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 25:24

And a lot of things that we did, you know, wet and balance was just using a paper and the calculators, and then weather, we gotta, you know, there is no electronic weather, we gotta look for it, and the forecast is unreliable. We gotta, you know, what's the forecast for that a year? I'm sorry, an hour and then two hours from now. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:49

Do you remember we had like those little palm pilots to take to do like the weight and balance? Yes. And you'd have to you'd hit enter and then it would show you out of balance. And so you'd say, we need to move one person from row row one to row 18.

SPEAKER_03 26:05

We did a paper and the paper was a calculator. We draw the line. And then you that that does not stay in the envelope. We had to move people.

SPEAKER_01 26:15

I always hated that because then you're just like you just have to go up to someone and say, Hey, we need you to move to the back of the airplane for weight and balance.

SPEAKER_03 26:21

And then you're like, What? Yeah. Very unsafe.

SPEAKER_01 26:26

I'm glad we don't have to do that anymore. Um, okay, so you upgraded. How long did it take for you to feel really like comfortable as a captain?

SPEAKER_03 26:33

By the way.

SPEAKER_01 26:34

Oh, good.

SPEAKER_03 26:35

Yeah. So when I, you know, it took me four years to to upgrade, but about three years or so, I was ready and I was watching what Captain was doing. And it really, I feel like I was also a captain the last one year as FO. So when I had a chance to move to the left sea, yeah, I was very comfortable.

SPEAKER_01 26:53

What did those captains do that you really looked up to? Like what were those things that you saw other captains do where you said, I'm gonna do that?

SPEAKER_03 27:01

Come in peace.

SPEAKER_01 27:04

Well, you've mastered that. You have mastered that. What do you what do you mean by that?

SPEAKER_03 27:11

You know, things happen, right? It could be emergency. You know, I'm not talking about you know, engine failure or anything like that. Just a little minor uh caution message, and uh, some captains just chaos. Yeah, you know, just uh oh suddenly just uh I'm I'm here for you to help. Can I help you? But no, it's just almost like a one one way, you know. I'm the only one, I want to take care of this issue, you know, and just be quiet there, kind of yeah. But there's a good captain's okay, let's talk about this.

SPEAKER_00 27:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 27:43

All right, what do you think? What shall we do? Yeah, just have a normal conversation.

SPEAKER_01 27:47

Yeah, yeah. Have you ever dealt with any types of uh emergencies?

SPEAKER_03 27:52

Nothing major.

SPEAKER_01 27:53

Nothing major. What are what are some things that have happened to you that that you feel like you have to intentionally make sure that everyone is calm?

SPEAKER_03 28:02

Uh the gear did not come down.

SPEAKER_01 28:06

Which which which plane?

SPEAKER_03 28:07

That was a dash eight.

SPEAKER_01 28:09

The 100?

SPEAKER_03 28:10

That was 200, yeah. Dash 8 with 200.

SPEAKER_01 28:13

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 28:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:14

So coming in for landing, you lowered the gear.

SPEAKER_03 28:16

And then nothing.

SPEAKER_01 28:17

Were you a first officer or captain? I was captain. Okay. So how did how did you work through that?

SPEAKER_03 28:21

Just fly by in a tower and then uh could you check, uh make sure the gear is down and say no? Alternate gear extension, and then came back. What do you think? His gears down. Okay, well, great. We're gonna land.

SPEAKER_01 28:34

That's exactly what it's like flying with you. It's literally that calm. It's so great. It was so yeah, it was it was it was great. Okay, so you you flew the 100 for how long?

SPEAKER_03 28:46

We flew one and 200 at the same time.

SPEAKER_01 28:49

Oh, you would bounce back and forth? Okay.

SPEAKER_03 28:51

Yeah, those were the same.

SPEAKER_01 28:52

It's the same type. Did the 100 have a HUD?

SPEAKER_03 28:56

I yes.

SPEAKER_01 28:58

Okay. Yeah. Because I know that the 200s did. Yes. Yeah. 200s did. Do you like flying down to category three minimums?

SPEAKER_03 29:06

Yes. Hand flown.

SPEAKER_01 29:07

That's right. What do you guys use now in the E175? Is that auto land? Yes. Okay, so there's there's no HUD in the E175, but the same minimums because you can auto land it or close to it. Yes. What do you like about the low visibility flying with that HUD?

SPEAKER_03 29:26

Amazing, isn't it? Yeah. Sometimes I think, okay, we are so close to the ground, and I am a flying, hand flying.

SPEAKER_01 29:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 29:35

Technology.

SPEAKER_01 29:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 29:36

Yeah. Fly the dot.

SPEAKER_01 29:38

That's right.

SPEAKER_03 29:39

Yeah, just fly the dot. You wanna, you know, you'll see you'll see the air, you know, uh runway.

SPEAKER_01 29:44

Yeah. Yeah. Keep the pizza on the plate, if that would be, yes. Okay, so you fly the 100 and the 200. Tell me about your first transition over to a jet.

SPEAKER_03 29:57

CRJ. Yeah, like you talk about um Denver.

SPEAKER_00 30:00

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 30:01

Yes. Fast.

SPEAKER_00 30:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:04

Quiet. High altitude, smooth.

SPEAKER_01 30:09

30 years with horizon, 31 years. Um what are the what are the things that stand out to you about flying for Horizon for that long? Like, if you were to tell someone this is this is what flying at Horizon has been like.

SPEAKER_03 30:25

When I wanted to become an airline pilot, my dream was to fly the biggest airplane. Because in a Boeing 747, that's the airplane I wanted to fly. When I came to America, between US and America, I back and forth a few times a year, and it was all a large heavy aircraft. I realized very quickly when I was being back and sitting the back, that was not what I wanted to do. I loved the regional flying, up and down, up and down, and uh local, um, about an hour flight, maybe less. I don't want to do eight legs, but three, four legs, four legs a day. And life in Horizon to me is a small company. I know everybody, I'm no ID number, I have my name there, and short legs, always feel like I'm home. It fits my personality really well. I was hired by one of the major airlines in 25 years ago. I remember um I asked my husband, what do I do now? I wanted to try, and you know, interview process, I went there. That was part of the challenge that I wanted experience. And it wasn't the first time, it took me three times to get the job. And what do I do? Am I leaving Horizon Air where I love to be? And my husband said, Well, follow your heart. But if I follow my heart, I want to stay here. I want to stay there. And that's what I did. At that moment, I didn't want to go to the major airlines and then be an ID number and fly, long legs. Yeah. And it's, you know, just for me, the horizon has been great. And also now I'm in the training department.

SPEAKER_01 32:23

Oh, you are? And what do you what do you enjoy about that?

SPEAKER_03 32:26

Helping others, especially regional airline level. And a lot of the new hires never flown jet before, never flown a part 121 airline. Um, so it's just like a little, you know, young boys and girls.

SPEAKER_00 32:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:42

So excited about the you know, first job as an airline, like I was when I came in Horizon Years 31 years ago.

SPEAKER_01 32:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:49

Yeah. Prepare them to stay, great. Move on, great. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:54

It's funny that we call them now the young, the young look at these kids. But if people, I mean it happens to everyone, right? Is you kind of move on and you get closer towards the end of your flying career than you are at the beginning. And if you feel a sense of responsibility to give back, then there are great opportunities in the different training to departments. So that's that's you know, wonderful. So do you do OE out in the airplane too? Do you train train in the airplane? Yes. Do you like sims better or do you like airplanes better? What do you like?

SPEAKER_03 33:24

I do a sim.

SPEAKER_01 33:24

Oh, you don't? Okay.

SPEAKER_03 33:25

I don't like dark room. I love to fly.

SPEAKER_01 33:29

Yeah. Yeah. What's your most favorite layover or overnight?

SPEAKER_03 33:33

I like small cities. Yeah. Yeah, that's another one. Yeah. Yeah. So Santa Barbara.

SPEAKER_00 33:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 33:40

San Luis Obispo. And especially during the winter when the Pacific Northwest is a cold and wet and going to Southern California.

SPEAKER_01 33:49

As you look now, you're kind of closer to the end of your flying than you are at the beginning. When I ask you now and you look back, what are you grateful for of the last 31 years in the aviation business? Like what kind of stands out? What what things will you remember when you're no longer flying?

SPEAKER_03 34:10

It was not easy. Anything I did here in America, it wasn't easy. Since I came here, not just the horizon, you know, before that, in order to become airline pilots. And then, of course, being um a Czech pilot and everything I have done, it wasn't easy. But what I believed when I started this journey, never give up. Yeah, have a goal and never give up, do the best. Yeah, so I always think about this every day. What we do today is very important. Our future will be determined what we do today and what we do every day, and that's where I am today. I did my best every step the way. And then now I have a new goal after I retire. It's not it's not I don't know if I want to say this or not. But you can say I I might go I set my bar always high.

SPEAKER_00 35:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 35:26

And I go for it. And I have one goal that I want to accomplish someday.

SPEAKER_01 35:32

What is it?

SPEAKER_03 35:33

I want to go to the space. I want to become an astronaut.

SPEAKER_01 35:36

Uh well, I think that's that's easy. Easy, easy for you. I think that there's gonna be all kinds of opportunities just to just like to go up to orbit and float for a bit and come down, or you want to like go up and not yet. Yeah, no yet.

SPEAKER_03 35:49

But I do have a dream. I think a dream is a beautiful thing.

SPEAKER_01 35:52

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 35:53

If we don't have a dream, I don't think we can enjoy every day. Yeah, it just isn't even a small thing. Yeah, if you have nothing else to do, it's kind of boring.

SPEAKER_01 36:04

Yeah, yeah. What do you do in your spare time when you're you're not flying?

SPEAKER_03 36:10

Uh I love to cook, bake.

SPEAKER_01 36:12

You do.

SPEAKER_03 36:13

Yeah. That's that's just that's my favorite things to do now.

SPEAKER_01 36:16

Horizon Airlines is an incredible company with great people. I think you know, this is a perfect example of when when you talk about when you're not just a number, like when you walk in here, I'm like, oh, it's Yoko. Like I I've known Yoko for you know 25 years. She was a super big mentor of mine when I was a first officer. And I took a lot of the things that that you did to try to incorporate into my own way of being of being a captain, right? And I think that's probably speaks to kind of the airline that it is, is that we're we were all kind of tight.

SPEAKER_03 36:47

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 36:48

You know?

SPEAKER_03 36:48

Yeah, we were all family.

SPEAKER_01 36:49

Yeah. Thank you again. Oh, you're so nice to so nice of you on your layover to come in and do this. And um, we look forward to following your adventures in space. And thank you everyone for checking out the podcast, and uh, we'll see you next time.