Page 62 - South Mississippi Living - September, 2025

s of Their Wing
Own
Meet the Women Taking to the Skies Across South Mississippi
story by Cherie Ward
photos courtesy of Taylor Dickey, Alice Furr, Allison Lensink, Cindy King, Ashley Kosturock and Nicolle Stanfill
Don’t let the Southern charm fool you—there’s serious air traffic above the Gulf Coast, and it’s not just commercial jets. From Waveland
to Moss Point, women aviators are rewriting the flight plan—trading stereotypes for headsets and glass ceilings for cockpit doors. Whether they’re military pilots, flight instructors,
or private weekend warriors, these women are soaring beyond outdated expectations.
Wings, Wildfires, and One Fierce Resume
Lieutenant Colonel Cindy King wears more hats than most people ever have job titles. She serves in the Mississippi Army National Guard, works as an epidemiologist for the state’s Board
of Animal Health, and—just for good measure—flies wildfire detection missions for the Mississippi Forestry Commission.
“It’s an important job,” she said of the Forestry Commission’s aerial fire spotting. “We help get ground crews
to the right locations, and we can keep them from wasting resources chasing controlled burns. It keeps everyone safer.”
Flying started as a hobby—something
she picked up out of pure curiosity. “I didn’t set out to make it a career,” she said. “I just wanted
to be a better
pilot, so I got my
commercial license.
Then the job offers started coming.”
Now she’s part of a rarefied group— fewer than eight percent of all pilots are women, and fewer than one percent of Americans ever learns to fly at all.
King never set out to defy statistics— but she’s been soaring past expectations ever since.
Cindy King.
62 | September 2025
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