February 2, 2027: General Meeting & Luncheon featuring Kim Thomas-Barrios

MELISSA “M’LIS” WARD
Commercial Airline Pilot

Melissa Ward (M’lis) has traveled millions of miles to get to her destination. But she’s gone even further than that. As the first female African American Captain for a commercial airline, M’lis has been traveling down the path she saw her mother blaze as one of the first African American women to graduate from the University of Chicago Medical School. The bar had been set high in the Ward household and M’lis was more than up to the challenge.
After graduating from Whitney M. Young Magnet School in Chicago, IL, M’lis attended the University of Southern California on an Air Force ROTC Scholarship, as well as academic and athletic scholarships. While at USC, Melissa was a member of the two-time National Champion Women’s Basketball Team, an experience she says “is the closest I’ve ever come to flying without an airplane“. She left Southern California in 1986 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, and a regular commission in the United States Air Force.

Lieutenant Ward arrived at Reese AFB in Lubbock TX as the first female African American student in pilot training at that base. After graduation, she reached another milestone as the first African American female to receive a fighter pilot rating. Her first assignment was as a flight instructor in the T-37 Tweet. She finished Instructor Pilot Training as a Distinguished Graduate, and again, achieved distinction as the Air Force’s first African American female instructor pilot. She instructed in the T-37 from May 1988 until September 1991 when she received a new assignment to fly the C-141 Starlifter in Charleston, SC. M’lis served as a first pilot in the C-141, flying in both the aircraft commander and co-pilot positions.

After six years, and having achieved the rank of Captain, M’lis transferred to the Tennessee Air National Guard in Memphis, TN where she continued to fly the C-141. It was at this time that she was hired as a flight officer by United Airlines. After serving for two years in the Air National Guard, M’lis decided to become an inactive reserve of the armed forces and concentrate solely on commercial aviation.

Captain Ward’s career in commercial aviation began in November 1992. Based in Chicago, she was assigned as a second officer on the DC-10. She was soon promoted to first officer on the 737-200 (based in San Francisco, CA), then moved to the 727 fleet in Denver, CO. In November 1998, M’lis made history by becoming the first female African American Captain for a commercial airline. She was a Captain on the B737-300 for 11 years, holding the elite positions of Standards Captain and Fleet Technical Captain. She is currently a Captain and the only female African American Evaluator on the Airbus A319, 320 and A321 aircraft.

As one of only twenty-five female African American pilots at United Airlines, and one of less than 100 nationwide, M’lis has this to say about her experiences – “I didn’t break down any barriers…the barriers were broken by those who came before me. Being the first is an honor I feel blessed to have received, but it would be a tragedy if I were the last.”

Captain Ward resides in Denver, CO with her wife Denise and twin daughters Analise and Isabel. She is the recipient of the Dominion Strong Men and Women Award that most recently honored President and Mrs. Obama, the Women at the Top of Their Game Award, The USC Alumni Merit Award and B737 Standards Captain of the Year. She has been featured in Ebony, In the Black, Essence and Avid Golfer Magazines and has performed countless key note addresses for several professional organizations around the country.

Ward is an avid golfer and snowboarder. She has won both the Broken Tee and Wellshire Women’s Golf League Club Championships.