Jenna Slater

I am an untraditional pilot. I have always had a passion for small aircraft, seaplanes, aerobatics, non-powered flight, free falling, and anything that keeps the true excitement of flying alive.

I’m Canadian by birth, spent my early childhood years on a Maine beach, finished middle and high school in South Florida surrounded by boats (fishing and diving), and started my college education running track at Providence College in Rhode Island.

In 2011, I transferred to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach where I picked up a Bachelor’s in Aeronautics and a Master’s in Aeronautics with Safety and Management concentrations. During those 6 years, I soaked up every opportunity I could possibly find to learn about the industry and find my niche.

Ready for the rundown? I interned with Jet Support Services in Chicago, was a Red Bull brand manager for ERAU, spent 4 months starting a marketing department at Martin Jetpack in New Zealand, visited 23 regional airlines for my graduate research, worked with Endeavor Air (Delta) as a brand ambassador, and took on a random assortment of campus jobs: Graduate Assistant for the Chancellors Office, Student Government Secretary, Air Traffic Control Tower Lab Teaching Assistant, Private Pilot Ops Teaching Assistant, Student Liaison for College of Aviation Industry Advisory Board, you name it. The connections I made with both my industry bound peers and faculty experts have been invaluable. I still go back every year for a visit and NASA Space Shuttle overfly flight with my research advisor.

After walking across the stage one last time in Daytona, I joined the Marketing and Sales team at ICON Aircraft in Northern California. Being based at an aircraft manufacturer’s HQ was an amazing experience. I would walk the production line once a day just to track my customers’ A5s moving down the assembly line and out the door in 30 days for final flight testing. I picked up my Single Engine Sea rating and flew the amphibious ICON A5 all around the country finding the best lakes, rivers and bays of NorCal, Washington state, LA, Miami, Tampa, Panhandle beaches, Ohio, New England, Chesapeake Bay etc. We organized over 50 events a year to introduce the A5 to new owners and the pilot community. We flew celebrities, media outlets, partnered with exotic car companies & powersports, and were featured in shows like Jay Leno’s Garage.

After being part of the ICON family for close to 3 years, I’ve recently said my farewells and moved to Raleigh, NC for my husband’s career. Jesse and I met in an aircraft systems class our junior year at Riddle and have been finding ways to be together while chasing careers around the world. I’m just about finished with my Commercial License in a Diamond DA40NG and am the new Director of Marketing for Blue Line Aviation at RDU. Rae and I met during a Women in Aviation week activation out on the ramp. I cannot wait to fly together all around the East Coast, female pilots have to stick together in the cockpit. I’m forever in search of the best airport restaurants – my favorites are Southern Soul at SSI, and the Hangar at SPG.  

What got you interested in aviation?

I have to be 100% honest and say it was completely and truly random. I had no interest in aviation early in life due to an ear pressure problem that left me dreading any interaction with altitude. If you’ve ever ruptured your ear drum you know my pain. A doctor in Miami miraculously found a solution with a quick ear tube surgery, and suddenly travel and flight were not only possible, but incredibly fun. I spent the summer with my Portuguese family in the Algarve who I had not been able to visit in years!

I started university at Providence College and was loving the school, my track teammates, friends, and living in the city. However, the liberal arts curriculum often left me bored and wondering if there was something else out there for me. My best friend’s dad was a captain for American Airlines and floated the idea of getting my pilot’s license over summer. He thought I’d enjoy it based on my love for boats and powersports.

During a macro economics class, while the professor was talking about the opportunity cost of his tuna fish sandwich from lunch, I finally snapped and googled “best pilot school”. 3 months later I was enrolled in Embry-Riddle and living in a beach house with 2 girls from the ERAU track team. Naturally, my PC friends thought I had a nervous breakdown and would be back after one semester, but with a fall schedule of turbine engines, aerodynamics, private pilot training, and meteorology, it was hard to even glance back for a split second.

What was your first flight like?

My first flight was at our local home airport in Pompano Beach, FL. As I mentioned, a doctor had put in ear tubes as a solution for pressure problems during flights. To test it, my mom booked a discovery flight at the local flight school in lieu of a more expensive commercial airline ticket. We flew in a Cessna 172 and climbed up to 8,000 feet to test my ears. I didn’t feel a hint of pain and was absolutely in love. Even though it wasn’t a flight lesson, the instructor couldn’t go against his ingrained nature and demonstrated some stalls and maneuvers over the Everglades. He suggested I try out flight training since I clearly loved the experience, but I didn’t even entertain it as a possibility until a couple years later.

(Funny side note is that my younger brother is now a CFI/MEI at that same flight school, American Flyers. I guess he thought flying looked more fun than traditional business career routes as well.)

what’s your typical day like?

I have always worked on the business side of aviation while still flying, Marketing and Sales have allowed me to do that. I like to keep it an even mixture, since full time career pilot did not appeal to me personally. My typical day at ICON did not exist since every week was different. One day would be a traditional marketing job with email campaigns, social media, analytics, conference calls, building partnerships, event planning, etc. The next day might include packing up the A5 on the trailer and driving it to a Ferrari dealership for an event or demo flights at the Miami Seaplane base. I would “test out” fun flights for our customers like the Golden Gate Bridge tour or cruise across the Pacific Ocean from LA to Catalina Island. My boss never found fault with my logic for customer experience testing. I flew for fun, currency, photo/video content, to scout out a demo flight location, or to get the plane to an event location.

What do you like about flying?

I love the hands-on aspect of controlling something that allows you to see the world in a different perspective. If you try to put on autopilot when we’re flying together, I’ll smack your hand away. Seaplanes are by far my favorite and more of an adventure and exploration flight than traditional airport to airport operations. Low altitude flying and splashing down on the water or beaching the aircraft on an island like a boat is so much more fun than flight following from FLL to MCO at 10,000’. If you have the itch to get an SES I highly recommend Jones Brothers in Tavares, FL aka Seaplane City.

I also have an extreme love for non-powered flight. When you throw out the engine and barriers to open air, it really becomes something more visceral. I picked up my sky diving certification with the savings from my first internship and have never been able to replicate that feeling of free fall above the clouds, gliding down under a silent parachute with your legs dangling in free air. Hang gliding, paragliding, aerobatics, and open-cockpit light sport aircraft are right up there for me as well! If you haven’t ditched a large aircraft and closed cockpit at least once, promise me you’ll try it.

What’s the most challenging part of flying?

The inherent risk and staying as safe as possible are the most challenging parts of flying in my opinion. During grad school, I studied aircraft safety, and many of those accident case studies will leave you questioning the need or desire to get back in the left seat. Flying is amazing, there is nothing quite like it, but you have to be vigilant during every phase and never forget anything could happen at any point. Human error is the leading cause of accidents, don’t be the weak link. I often opt to never fly alone because of this. Two sets of eyes and the combination of both your flight experiences is better than one.

what’s the most challenging part of your job?

Sometimes the stress can really build up. I work on both sides of the operation, and it’s hard not to let company stress spill into the cockpit environment or vice versa. There are many pressures and naturally stressful situations involved in aviation. Learning to mitigate them with continual learning, training, and using all available resources (including fellow pilots!) is really important to me. The more prepared you are, the more fun flying will be. And that’s the goal isn’t it?

What advice would you give to someone who wants to pursue a career in aviation?

Go for it. If you are even curious a little, follow that curiosity. The industry is large, constantly changing, and new opportunities are popping up all over the place. I did not know anything besides airlines or corporate when I first got into aviation, you learn it along the way. If you just take the jump and start flying and meeting pilots or aviation professionals the world will open.

The financial cost of flying or aviation universities is definitely a consideration to not take lightly. You do not want the stress of insurmountable debt being a deciding factor for what jobs you can and can’t accept. However, there are so many ways to get creative about it. Scholarships are widely available (especially for females), and if you work on the business side like I have, you can always find a way to pick up spare flight hours or negotiate training. I worked for Embry-Riddle as a way to get a graduate degree at no charge.

If you’re confused and not sure which route to go or how to get into it, ask others that have already done it. Show up to public pilot meetings like EAA or WAI, someone will be happy to answer questions or let you fill an open seat on a breakfast flight. Pilots love talking about their experience and story, what do you think I’m doing right now? : )