07/17/2026
WOW👏
What an incredible milestone for women in aviation!
Captain Chresten Wilson’s career is a powerful example of the progress that can be made through persistence, dedication, and a love for the work.
Congratulations on making United Airlines history!
Captain Chresten Wilson has reached something no woman in United Airlines' history ever had: she is the airline's most senior pilot, number one out of roughly 18,000.
In United's roughly 100-year history, no woman had ever topped its pilot seniority list. Wilson is the first.
She almost didn't try. Wilson joined United in 1984 at 22, at a time when she rated her own chances near zero. "I didn't think there was a snowball's chance in hell that I would get hired," she told Fortune. "But I guess I met their standard."
That was 42 years ago. She started as a flight engineer on the McDonnell Douglas DC-10, then flew the 737, 747, 757, 767, A320, and 777, before reaching the Boeing 787 Dreamliner she commands today out of San Francisco. She has been a captain for 31 of those years.
There is a bittersweet edge to it. Wilson is 64. She reached the summit right at the edge of her own retirement, and will hold it only briefly before federal rules require her to step down.
She is careful about what the milestone means. "I never set out to be the first," she said. "I just wanted to go fly airplanes and do it to the best of my ability. But I also see that this is very significant. It represents progress and persistence, and I have to give thanks to the women that came before me. They opened the door for me."
When she started, women were almost nonexistent in airline cockpits. Even today they make up only about 6 percent of the profession.
Her hope is simply that other people look at her and aim higher. "I just want people to see that there's no limit."
