Transgender Pilot Regains Her Wings
Edge (http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=local&sc2=features&sc3=&id=76237)
by Renee Baker
EDGE Contributor
Friday Jun 20, 2008
Within two hours of coming out as transgendered to her Human Resources department, corporate jet pilot Jamy Spradlin was put on paid administrative leave. To make matters worse, the Federal Aviation Administration delayed renewing her license to fly for nearly a year while they evaluated her psyche for stability after beginning hormone replacement therapy.
A link to an interesting article is listed below.
Gennee
http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=local&sc2=features&sc3=&id=76237
I remember when Eastern Airlines fired Karen Ulane in 1980 after she returned from a leave of absence to transition. She had flown combat missions over Vietnam from 1964-68 and Eastern was proud to have her...until she showed up in a skirt. She eventually received a settlement from Eastern but the sad fact is that firing directly led to her death. She was killed 22 May, 1989 at age 40 in the crash of a chartered DC-3 she was flying. But even when Eastern fired her, I don't remember there being as much flack from the FAA as there was in this case. Just depends on the attitude of the bureaucrats involved.
Beverly
I think its a vaild question for the FAA to ask.
Then they should ask it of every single female pilot who begins a regimen of hormones at menopause. Otherwise it's nothing more than blatant discrimination. Got any idea of the flack that would cause?
Beverly