​First female airline commander in Brazil celebrates 30 years with LATAM

Aviator’s Day is celebrated on October 23, and especially this year, Claudine Melnik had an even more special reason to celebrate the date. First pilot in the history of LATAM Brazil, the professional completes 30 years with the company in 2022. Born in Curitiba, PR, Claudine began her career at LATAM in 1992 as a flight attendant, at the age of 23. In 1994, she assumed the position of co-pilot of Caravan C208 aircraft. In 1995, she became the first female commander of an airline in Brazil, flying aircraft of the same model. “Ever since I was a child, I had a strong desire to fly, I do not know exactly if it was because of a family vacation trip or if that desire already existed. But the fact is that from a very young age, I saw myself flying in some way”, says Claudine Melnik. As a child, Claudine imagined flying like her aviator cousin of the Brazilian Air Force (FAB, in Portuguese), which would only open its doors to women in 1982. To get to the skies, then, she took flight theory classes at an aero club in Curitiba, PR, and practical classes in Juiz de Fora, MG. In 1992, when Claudine started her career at LATAM as a flight attendant, she already had the necessary licenses to be a pilot, and as soon as the opportunity arose, she migrated to the position of technical crew member, a profession she always wanted to follow. She performed domestic flights in this position for four years and, when the company acquired its first aircraft for long-haul flights, she was part of the first class of co-pilots that would fly from Brazil to abroad. Claudine remembers that her first international flight was to Miami, in the United States. Currently, Claudine is the commander of Boeing 787 and 777 aircraft, which at LATAM Brazil are used to operate international routes from Brazil to North America, Europe, and Africa. The Boeing 777, by the way, is the largest aircraft in the LATAM fleet, with a capacity for 410 passengers. In all, the commander has already accumulated more than 20 thousand hours of flights, mainly on long-range international routes. Today, LATAM regularly serves from Brazil to 20 destinations abroad, including destinations such as Barcelona, Mexico City, Frankfurt, Lisbon, London, Madrid, Miami, Milan, New York, Orlando, Paris, and Rome. As a woman and mother of two, Claudine comments that her profession “requires a great personal donation”, but reinforces that this happens “both for men and women”. She also believes that “perhaps aviation is a little more difficult for women because of the female self-demand” and highlights that “as a mother, she practices the eternal exercise of guilt of not being present in significant and irreplaceable moments, always hoping that everything went well while you are miles away from home.” In the end, she reflects: “this year I complete 30 years of work, and I believe that everything is in the order it should be”. – https://www.aeroflap.com.br/primeira-mulher-comandante-de-uma-linha-aerea-no-brasil-completa-30-anos-de-latam/