23 years old, Leona Serao has achieved an incredible milestone by graduating as a certified pilot from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in the United States.
However, for her, this is just the beginning—she now aspires to make history as the first Black woman to fly solo around the world.
Born in the United States but raised in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Leona is passionate about increasing female representation in aviation.
“In the Congo, there are only three women out of 100 million people who hold pilot licenses. “]That’s something I want to change,” she revealed. She acknowledges that aviation has long been a male-dominated field, making it harder for women to break through.
“It is a challenge because it’s a male dominated field and women didn’t really get the opportunity to be pilots before. We couldn’t even drive before the 20th century. And in the aviation industry, it stayed like that,” she explained.
Unfortunately, the lack of diversity in aviation is not just an issue in the Congo—it extends to the United States as well.
Of the 158,000 licensed pilots in the U.S., only 4,000 are Black and out of those, only 150 are Black women and globally, 142 solo flights have been completed, but only 11 were by women—and none of them were Black women.
“The fact that I’m going to be the first one, means I’m going to be able to inspire other Black and other African people who want to join the aviation field,” Leona said.
Leona completed her flight training in Florida, studying Aviation Business Administration at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. She earned her pilot’s license at the end of 2020 and has since set her sights on an extraordinary mission.
She plans to embark on a three-month solo flight, departing from New York and traveling across 33 countries and four continents. Once she completes her journey, Leona will achieve multiple historic firsts.
She will become the first Black woman to fly solo around the world, the first African woman to fly solo around the world, the youngest African to fly solo around the world, the first Congolese pilot to fly solo around the world and the first woman to fly solo using the Ground Data Black Box Tempeus
Beyond setting records, Leona hopes her journey will raise awareness about the lack of diversity in aviation and inspire young girls to pursue their dreams.
“I want to change the narrative and show that Black women belong in the skies too,” she said.
