She's always known she would fly

Sammi Olson is a Cloquet native who lives in Minneapolis and is a pilot for Delta Air Line's regional carrier Delta Connection.

She graduated as Sammi Proulx from Cloquet High School in 2017. She'd wanted to be a pilot for a long time.

"I think my dad had a really big influence on it because he was a pilot for the Guard in Duluth," Olson said. Don Proulx is her father. "I always wanted to do it since I was a kid, and I never really had any other plans or ideas."

Olson got her bachelor's of science in aeronautics and a specialization in safety from the University of North Dakota, graduating in 2021. However, she took her first flight lesson in 2016, before she graduated high school.

According to the CAPA Centre for Aviation, women made up only 4 to 6 percent of pilots globally in 2023.

"There's still a little bit of stigma out there about women in aviation," Olson said. "Sometimes you get the old geezers that are like, 'Oh my gosh, if you were my pilot I would never fly with you.'"

Despite that, Olson said there are also many people who want to uplift and support female pilots.

"On the last trip I was on, it was four days, and I probably had 20 different people come up to the cockpit and be like, 'We've never seen a woman pilot before. This is amazing.' I've had people want to take pictures with me and just think it's super cool."

Her advice for any young women who want to become pilots?

"Have no fear. There will be challenges along the way, but the aviation industry is changing for women. Just work hard and stay focused, and enjoy the process because it's fun. It's very fun."

Olson hopes she can continue to fly for Delta for a long time.

"My goal is to stay with this company and be there for hopefully 40-plus years," she said. "I guess I'm just getting started with all of it, of course, but I can see myself being at Delta for a really long time."