Starr Tailor’s love of airplanes began when she first boarded one at 9 years old to travel to her grandmother’s homeland of Belize.
“They’re my version of shooting stars,” said Starr, 17, adding that she loves looking at planes through windows as they fly over her Vermont Knolls neighborhood in South LA.
Now, as a high school senior, Starr’s plans to become a commercial pilot are in full swing.
She will graduate from Alliance Piera Barbaglia Shaheen Health Services Academy on Thursday with plans to attend Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Prescott Campus in Arizona this fall.
“She’s a young person with a lot of potential and the sky is the limit for her, no pun intended,” said Christopher Estrada, principal at Alliance PBSHSA.
Starr’s journey is especially significant because Black women remain severely underrepresented in aviation “with less than 200 Black Female Pilots who fly professionally for the airlines and military combined,” according to Sisters of the Skies, a nonprofit organization founded in 2016 by two Black women pilots, Nia Gilliam and Angel Jean-Charles.
“Initially, that was what discouraged me from pursuing aviation,” Starr said, referring to the industry’s lack of diversity. “There’s only 1% of Black women pilots in the United States, and that is a very small number.”
Despite the odds, Starr was determined to fly professionally.
She participated in a 2023 summer internship through the Los Angeles Unified School District where she met Skye Price, a member of the LA Metro Youth Council who she credits with inspiring her to consider a future in aviation.
Last semester, Starr started the PBS Aviation Society at her high school, in honor of the woman whose name is on her school. The club introduces students to topics ranging from aerodynamics and flight principles to aviation careers.
“I was able to combine two of my goals,” she said. “Learning aviation while still in school and being able to share my passion with my classmates and peers.”
And since January, Starr has been learning to fly planes under the guidance of the Fly Compton Foundation at Compton/Woodley Airport since January. She was chosen to participate in the foundation’s summer solo program that prepares students to fly alone in 10 days.
“I believe out of about 200 students, only eight were chosen and I was one of them,” Starr said.
Starr told The LA Local she plans to get her private pilot’s license in August before she heads off to college.
She’s hoping to prove that regardless of race or gender, the skies are open to everyone.
The family’s journey motivated Starr to keep her head to the sky
School staff members have nurtured and supported Starr’s dream in every way, she said.
“When I first met her, she only talked about airplanes. It’s something that she stuck with, it’s her passion,” said Jesus Ortega, Starr’s English teacher.
But the path to becoming a pilot has not been without its challenges.
There was a mishap with Starr’s application to Embry-Riddle that had to be corrected and a significant financial challenge to overcome, Ortega said.
Starr told The LA Local flight lessons at Embry-Riddle will cost roughly $120,000 and that does not include tuition.
Starr’s mother, Shantee Smith, said she had already turned down 15 full scholarships from other colleges to attend Embry-Riddle. But then, Starr and an Alliance schools spokesperson told The LA Local, she received a $20,000 scholarship from Alliance PBSHSA to help cover flight costs over four years.
“I thought I wouldn’t be able to go,” Starr said. “Thankfully, the support system I have here is going to make it happen for me and I’m very grateful.”
Overcoming challenges is something Starr said she learned from her family, particularly her grandfather who owned a plumbing company and her grandmother who left Belize to start a better life in America.
“I think my grandparents believed they had to take their futures into their own hands, knowing that what they do would pave the way for all that come after them,” Starr said.
With a bright future ahead for her daughter, Smith said she’s thrilled about Starr’s journey and credits Alliance PBSHSA for helping Starr follow her dreams.
“I can’t say enough about Alliance,” Smith said. “But I want her to get out and experience new things, new places, new people. I want her to be the best pilot she can be.”
