Woman pilot ready to fly at Tropic Air
With Belizean women being visible everywhere from the bases to the boardrooms we are no longer surprised when we see a female in what was once considered an exclusively male occupation. But one profession has managed to resist feminine integration — until now that is.
Since the birth of Tropic Air in 1979, the San Pedro based company has grown to become one of the busiest local airlines. Today Tropic has broken new ground by bringing on board Belize’s first female commercial pilot.
Florita Ancona, Pilot, Tropic Air
“I’ve always wanted to be a pilot. I grew up in the business and commuting every week was part of my life and I always wanted to be in front because being a small person I was always stuck to the back and I wanted to be in the front doing it for myself.”
Standing only five feet and four inches in height, nineteen-year-old Florita Ancona, although only a couple of months on the job, has already earned the respect of her boss and co-workers. According to Johnny Greif, Tropic Air’s General Manager, Ancona has proven to be just as good as her male colleagues.
Johnny Greif, General Manager, Tropic Air
“Well she is very dedicated. She is a good pilot, mechanically, skill wise which is important. At Tropic we are as much tour guides as we are pilots, so that’s really important. So she’s got good people’s skills, so we are very satisfied with her so far.”
Florita Ancona
“Ladies and gentlemen welcome to San Pedro. Have a nice day. Thank you for choosing Tropic.”
Flying had always been a part of Ancona’s life. Not only does she remember standing on her front porch watching the island’s busy airstrip, but her mother and brother are also longtime employees of Tropic Air. Presently Ancona sits in the co-pilot seat acquiring the seven hundred and fifty hours needed before she can officially command a flight.
Johnny Greif
“If anything we are harder on her than we would be on the men, for that very reason. We don’t want anyone to say Florita is family and she is female and so she is getting special treatment. So if anything we are harder on her than we are on the men.”
Most of Ancona’s day is spent in the air gaining experience. On the day that we visited San Pedro, we accompanied Ancona and senior pilot Victor Vernon on one of their routine flights. Before we boarded, Ancona went through the required duties of a pilot, that of checking out with the office, and inspecting the aircraft. Once on board both Ancona and Vernon did the usual checklist before taxing to take off.
Victor Vernon, Senior Pilot, Tropic Air
“She is right now in the experience phase which means she is fully qualified to do all the duties of a commander except insurance requires much more therefore she has to sit in the right seat for quite a while.
I just want to say at this point she is taxing the airplane into position and from here on I will do the take off and then I will let her have it again in flight which is required by our policy.”
Ancona, is not only happy that her dream of flying has finally come true, but she is proud to have paved the way for other Belizean women who may be interested in flying.
Florita Ancona
“I would tell them go for it. If they really want to do it, go for it. As long as they know that they will have to work hard for what they do and that is in anything you do and it’s fun and I guess I’ve broken the ice so it’s going to be easier for other people.”
So the next time you fly on Tropic Air and you hear…
Florita Ancona
“Good morning ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Tropic Air.”
… it’s your history making pilot, Florita Ancona.
A number of Belizean women have pilot’s licenses but Ancona is believed to be the first to fly commercially. Air Jamaica recently made history when an all woman crew conducted a jet flight from Fort Lauderdale to Kingston.
