All-Black flight crew commemorates Juneteenth

Water cannons blasted over United flight 1258 as it left its gate, celebrating that every person on the flight crew, from pilots to gate agents and ramp staff, was Black. The all-Black crew flew from Houston to Chicago on Saturday morning, commemorating Juneteenth, now a federal holiday celebrating the end of slavery. Before takeoff, a celebration of the crew included a speech from Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, a saxophone performance from one of the pilots, Sal Crocker, and water cannons on the tarmac. Turner said the flight crew was a symbol for how far the Black community has come over the past 150 years. "Now, we're soaring amongst the stars," Turner said to CNN affiliate KTRK. "Let me tell you, for our ancestors, my parents, if they were still alive, they would just be amazed."<br/>Just 2.47% of United States aircraft pilots and flight engineers are Black, according to Data USA. But for flight 1258, even the flight dispatchers, both in Houston and Chicago, celebrated their Black heritage. "It is very difficult being a Black person, a Black woman, in the aviation industry," said Deon Byrne, one of the pilots. "There's not a lot of encouragement, and there's absolutely mentorship for the future generation, but when I came in, it was very difficult to find the funding, the resources, and the connections to get started in the industry." Byrne said in the 25 years she's been in the aviation industry, she's never worked with a crew that has even been half Black, which made this experience incredibly unique. Byrne praised United for having its own flight school with scholarships to assist the next generation of Black students trying to become pilots.<br/>