Emily Howell Warner

Emily Howell Warner
Airplane Pilot
1939 -
Inducted 2002

Warner made aviation history in 1973 when she became the first woman hired as a pilot by a major U.S. airline –Denver based Frontier Airlines. She earned her captain’s wings three years later, the first woman to do so.

Captain Emily Warner has opened cockpits for thousands of women pilots. As a teenager, the Denver native took her first airplane flight, and the experience ignited her passion for flying. Flying lessons and earning her instructors license came next at Clinton Aviation. Warner made aviation history in 1973 when she became the first woman hired as a pilot by a major U.S. airline –Denver based Frontier Airlines. She earned her captain’s wings three years later, the first woman to do so. After more than 21,000 flight hours, Warner retired and now generously mentors the next generation of women pilots.

“I looked out that front window and it just hit me. It’s so beautiful looking out of the front window instead of looking out of the sides.” — Captain Emily Howell Warner