Checking Out


All in the family


Kristin Long is the third generation in her family to work in the aviation industry – but the first captain


By Brenlee Coates C


areers in aviation seem to run in the family – “it’s like teachers; it’s almost a 50 per cent chance that one of your kids will become a teacher,” says Kristin Long, a captain at WestJet


and third-generation member of the industry. Her grand- father worked for Trans-Canada Air Lines (Air Canada) when it first began operations. History has repeated itself several times in Kristin’s life-


time; her parents met at an Air Canada Christmas mixer (both were staff) and Kristin’s husband is a fellow pilot. But a career as a pilot doesn’t just fall into someone’s lap like an inheritance.


70 • Spring 2015


Kristin started out as a flight attendant for Air Canada with her sister. “I just loved getting on the airplane… be- ing part of the crew,” she remembers. Since she was a kid, Kristin has always loved planes and wondered what it might be like to be at the helm. “It never occurred to me that I couldn’t, so that became my dream,” she explains. While pursuing a bachelor of science at the Univer-


sity of British Columbia, and working as a summer em- ployee at Air Canada, her childhood dream resurfaced. “I thought, ‘You know what? You’ve just got to follow your dream. You’ve just got to try.’”


The Hub


Photo provided by Kristin Long.


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