Capt. Larry Frantom (United) remembers playing with his little girl, Jenny, in the flight simulators before she went on to take her first solo flight at age 16. Jenny received her Private Pilot Certificate by learning to fly after school and on weekends. Her father was her first passenger.
Jenny attended Metro State University’s aviation program in Denver, Colo., and completed Commercial/Instrument, Multi-engine, Flight Instructor and Instrument Flight Instructor at Centennial Airport. Larry, who had remained current with his Flight Instructor ratings, would fly with her on occasion, giving her dual instruction. “I would tell her that as a woman pilot, she needed to be well above average so no one could ever say that the only reason she was hired was because she was a female. I wanted her to be the best and safest pilot that she could be,” he says.
During Jenny’s senior year at Metro State, she was hired as a United Airlines intern in the Flight Safety Department. As an intern, she was allowed to jumpseat with her father several times on the Boeing 767.
In May 2006, Jenny graduated from Metro State University in Denver, and was hired later that year by SkyWest Airlines. While attending pilot training in Salt Lake City, Jenny met her future husband, James Elmer, who was also a new hire at SkyWest.
James and Jenny were married in 2010. James became Captain at SkyWest Airlines a few years later. In 2014, James and Jenny flew together as Captain and First Officer for the first time. Larry surprised them by showing up and asking for the jumpseat.
Later that year, James was hired by United Airlines as a Boeing 737 First Officer. One year later, James became First Officer on the Boeing 767. In May of 2016, James and Larry flew to Maui, Hawaii together as Captain and First Officer on their first flight together. This time it was Jenny who surprised them both when she showed up and asked for the jumpseat.
James and Jenny now have a beautiful baby girl, Ayla. The only question is, “Will James and Jenny see their daughter behind the controls of the cockpit someday?” Time will tell, but she does already have her first set of wings!
This story originally appeared in Air Line Pilot.