“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard your flight. As you step onto my aircraft, take a quick glance into the cockpit. Yep, that’s me sitting in the captains’ seat, and that’s my first officer laughing about how he accidentally locked himself out of his hotel room. Naked. Again. We’re both a little ripe from flying for the last five days, but we’re still smiling because we have spent years and thousands of hours training and living an uncommon lifestyle to be up here for you. For the next few hours, you have to turn your life over to us. It’s hard to trust others, and there are moments when you don’t have a choice about being in control. During those moments, you’ll just have to tighten your seatbelt and trust that others will get you through the storm. Our route today will take you through a segment of my life up in the air, and you will see things you could never imagine. Since I have been locked in the cockpit with men for several thousands of hours over the years, I have been given a perspective few get to experience. To help you see a different perspective, too, I am giving you a checklist to use as we move along our route. It will take you from gate to gate, and when we’re done, we will have both learned a little more about what it takes to fly. Now…just sit back and relax. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.” Erika Armstrong has worked every aspect of aviation in her twenty-five years in the industry, including an international corporate airline captain. She is an award-winning staff writer for and is a professional pilot columnist for , , LinkedIn, and Business Insider and is the owner of Leading Edge Aviation Consulting.