Chapelle Graduates Soar to New Heights As Professional Pilots
I’ve shared about my daughters’ journies as pilots before, but I am proud to say they are both still flying through life (literally). A lot has changed since I first shared about my girls’ passion for aviation, and both of my daughters are moving right along. One of my daughters is already working in her professional career as a pilot, and the other is building her hours for the airlines. Girl power, for sure! And the best part is that they both graduated from right here in the New Orleans area … so this is a story about how Louisiana girls can truly do anything.
The Path to Professional Full-Time Pilot
My oldest daughter is Ainsley, and I am proud of her professional journey to chase her dreams. Upon graduation, Ainsley needed to gain hours so that she would be able to fly for a commercial airline. As such, she decided to move to Louisville where she secured a flight instructor job at Louisville Aviation. Her fiancé was based as a pilot with Republic Airlines in 
Louisville as well, so this made sense for them. They ended up living in Louisville for about a year and half pursuing their aviation careers. While working at Louisville Aviation as a flight instructor, Ainsley continued her training as well, and she was able to obtain her multi-engine license.
When Ainsley was close to the hours needed, she decided to apply to SkyWest Airlines, a regional airline that flies for United, Delta, American and Alaska Airlines. After her interview in Salt Lake City, she was hired! Yes, I am so dang proud to say that my daughter was hired as a commercial pilot! Of course, the process does not end there, and next up for Ainsley was training. She attended a very vigorous training in Salt Lake City, Cincinnati and Denver for about two and half months that includes a combination of classroom work, flight simulators and lots (and lots) of studying. She was doing all of this while she was also planning a December 2023 wedding. Needless to say, Ainsley was a little stressed trying to figure out how she would be off for all of the wedding festivities, including their honeymoon. Thankfully, SkyWest was very accommodating.
Upon completion of her training, Ainsley was assigned an Embraer-175, a 76-passenger plane. Wow, my own daughter becoming a first officer on a jet! Ainsley was assigned Salt Lake City for her base. For those who may not know, a “base” refers to where a pilot starts and ends their schedule. Since she moved back to New Orleans, she would need to commute to and from Salt Lake City to report to work.
However, the very first flight assigned to Ainsley was departing from Houston and flying to San Antonio and then back to Houston. Of course, my husband, her fiancé and I would fly with her. My husband and I were beaming with excitement, our first born daughter flying a commercial jet as a professional pilot! She did a great job landing and making the on-board announcements. About a week later, Ainsley flew into MSY on a United plane. I was super excited since this is where I had worked myself for 20 years. The day Ainsley flew in, several of my old co-workers were there to greet her. These are the same co-workers that I worked beside when I was pregnant with her. Talk about full circle, from flying in my belly to flying the plane itself! One of my co-workers gave her a warm welcome at the gate and made an announcement to the passengers of who she was and how she remembered her as a little girl. My youngest daughter, Shelby, my mom and one of my best friends were able to go to the gate to welcome her as well.
About a month later she flew into Kansas City where another former co-worker greeted her flight. She also made an announcement in the gate area to introduce Ainsley to the passengers she was about to fly. Ainsley was becoming a star among my old co-workers.
Ainsley was enjoying flying mostly on the west coast and within the midwest. She was 
flying into a lot of beautiful places she had never been to before, but unfortunately, the commute was getting tough on her. Her four-day trips would turn into six days because of the commute the day before and day after her last flight, all while preparing for her wedding.
It was at this time that Ainsely decided she would apply with NetJets, a private business jet charter company. NetJets is the largest private jet operator in the world. The have many bases, with one thankfully being in New Orleans. Ainsley interviewed with NetJets the day after she returned from her honeymoon and she was soon offered the job. She was super excited, needless to say, and would leave for training within a month.
Ainsley attended training in Columbus and Orlando for about a month. Upon completion of the NetJets training, she was awarded the Cessna Citation XLS. Since training on the XLS, she then upgraded to the Global 6000 and she will leave for training for the Global 6000 at the end of October. The Global 6000 holds 17 passengers and can fly nonstop from New Orleans to Tokyo or from New Orleans to Dubai; the plane is a beast!
NetJets has over twelve different aircraft type and flies to more than 5,000 airports in over 200 countries and territories. Ainsley is looking forward to the many international destinations she will be flying to and seeing the world as a pilot on the world’s most impressive private jet. And we are just SO proud of her for pursuing this career and doing everything to make it happen.
The Earlier Phase of Pursuing A Career as a Pilot
Not only do I have one daughter who is passionate about aviation, I actually have two! That’s right; my younger daughter Shelby is also working towards a career as a pilot. After attending Southeastern University and training at Fly By Knight in Hammond for a year, she decided to move into another direction. Shelby also decided to move to Louisville to live 
with her sister and join her at Louisville Aviation to train. Louisville Aviation had just announced a partnership with Indiana Wesleyan University for aviation studies. She did very well accumulating hours and getting her licenses, and Shelby would be the first student from Indiana Wesleyan to graduate from their aviation program. What a trailblazer!
Upon completion of her degree, she then needed to obtain her CFI (Certified Flight Instructor). Shelby decided to attend a month-long program in Dallas to complete her CFI in a shorter period of time. After completing this and passing her CFI exam, she would start applying for jobs to become a flight instructor.
Shelby wanted to choose a place where she would be able to accumulate a lot of flight hours as quickly as possible. The school she was looking for would need to have plenty of students, and the weather would have to allow her to fly regularly. After applying to a few companies, SkyBlue Jet Aviation in Palm Beach, Florida turned out to be the perfect fit. It’s a great location to live and she is employed at a great flight academy.
Shelby started working in February, and she has acquired several students in that time. While some are older than her and a few are younger than her, she is loving it! It is never too late to learn a new skill like flying a plane. She plans to stay employed by SkyBlue Academy until she completes the hours (1,500 total) needed to apply to an airline, which she hopes to finish within 18-24 months. Meanwhile she is enjoying the views from air over the beautiful South Florida water. She has already flown to Key West twice and is planning on flying to Key West for a third time to treat her boyfriend to a flight for his birthday. What a great birthday present!
Chapelle Paved The Way For These Girls to Fly High
Both girls are graduates of Archbishop Chapelle right here in the New Orleans metro area, and they were asked to attend Career Day last year. After they spoke to the students about their journey and their profession, several girls have decided to take a similar path in aviation. Both Ainsley and Shelby absolutely love talking to people about their journey and the path of becoming a pilot.
My husband I couldn’t be prouder of our girls. I think all the traveling we did with them as kids rubbed off on them for sure. They still have that love of exploring our beautiful world, which is a gift to last a lifetime.
All I can say is #mypilotdaughters #pilotgirls #girlpower – girls can do anything!
Susan Frazier
Ainsley Hover and Shelby Frazier are the daughters of Susan and Scott Frazier. Susan is retired from United Airlines. She enjoys traveling, playing pickleball, hitting the beach and making crafts from seashells. Scott is the 2019 Little League World Series Champion and 2024 Intermediate 50/70 World Series Champion coach. Scott is the very first ever Little League coach to win in TWO different age groups. They currently live in the Baja, which you can learn more about their relocation to Mexico here.
