Tammi Jo Shults

Tammie Jo Shults is a commercial airline captain and retired US Navy aviator. Known for being one of the first female fighter pilots to serve in the United States Navy, following active duty she became a pilot for Southwest Airlines. Shults joined Southwest Airlines, in 1993, where she is a captain. She served in the Navy from 1983 – 2001 as an F/A-18 Hornet and EA-6B Prowler pilot . On April 17, 2018, as captain of Flight 1380, she safely landed a Boeing 737-700 after the aircraft suffered an engine failure with debris causing an uncontrolled decompression of the plane. Shults made an emergency descent and landed in Philadelphia. Southwest Airlines officials and passengers noted her actions, calm demeanor, and competence during the emergency. Shults initially had limited options in the Navy due to combat exclusion laws that prevented women from flying combat aircraft. But when the law was repealed in 1993, she became one of the first women to fly the Navy’s combat jets.