AT COMMUTEAIR, WE HAVE GREAT PEOPLE WITH GREAT STORIES TO SHARE.
From Military to C5 Pilot – Meet First Officer Alli Hill
Although Allison (Alli) Hill joined CommuteAir as a First Officer in 2023, she has years of prior flight experience as a pilot with the United States Coast Guard. Read on to hear Alli reflect on her time in the Coast Guard and her transition to being a C5 First Officer.
Hill said she knew she wanted to be a pilot from a young age. Her father largely influenced this decision, as he was a Pilot with the Coast Guard. After coming home from deployment, Hill would hear exciting, fun stories from her father about work. This helped pique her interest in the military.
“I got to see him coming home and then watch the news and be like, ‘Oh, that was my dad on that flight saving somebody in Michigan, New York, Oregon or wherever,’” Hill said.
Hill ended up attending Michigan State University in 1988, majoring in engineering. “I looked around at some of the schools and knew that engineering was, at least at the time, a good background to have for getting into aviation. There were no flying majors at the university, but I knew I wanted to go in the military, so engineering was a good path to get me where I wanted to be eventually,” she said.
After graduating in 1992, Hill quickly joined the United States Coast Guard in 1993 and attending Officer Candidate School where she earned a spot at US Naval Flight School in Pensacola FL.
“I did my initial training in Florida and flew single-engine fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. After my winging, I went to my advanced training for C130s in Little Rock Arkansas. After I finished my training, I was stationed in Hawaii, and was lucky enough to stay there for five years. Typically, military orders are not that long, but it could be hard to find members that want to go [to Hawaii] because it’s so isolated. But being young like I was and unattached, it was a great place to go on my first tour,” Hill said.
According to Hill, she and her unit did a lot of search and rescue, law enforcement, and logistics missions while in Hawaii.
“But my favorite trip that I did out in Hawaii was a medical evacuation of three premature triplets that were born on the big island of Hawaii. They didn’t have the facilities and expertise to care for them there, so we had to fly in a full medical team and all these incubators that could be secured in the back of the aircraft. We weren’t sure how they’d withstand the pressurization, so we flew back at low altitude. Such delicate cargo really made for a stressful trip,” Hill said.
Following Hawaii, Hill finished out her time with the Coast Guard in Sacramento, California. Although she was originally hired by American Airlines in 2001, the tragic events of 9/11 altered those plans indefinitely. But in 2003, she joined ComAir, another regional carrier, as a first officer based out of Cincinnati, Ohio. But after two-and-a-half-years of commuting from California and Florida, she decided to resign and focus on her family.
“I was spreading myself too thin being a mom, wife, pilot, and commuter. When I started the airline job, I had a two-and-a-half-year-old and a nine-month-old. My husband was still on active duty, still deploying for up to 3-months. We had a nanny, but logistically, it was just becoming kind of worry and troublesome. When I was away, I was worried about things at home, and when I was home, I was worried about staying proficient with my flying,” Hill said.
Hill ended up deciding that her family was her top priority. This would mark the start of a new career, not as a pilot but still around aviation and the Coast Guard as a consultant and program manager. She spent 17 years away from flying, but still had a craving for aviation at the end of the day.
“Once I left ComAir and I was out for more than a couple years, I just never thought I could get back to it. But the more I talked to colleagues and friends that I knew from my military days, they were like ‘Oh, no, the industry is definitely in a different state than it was years ago, they really need more pilots and want people of different ages, backgrounds, and skill sets,’” Hill said.
So, she took that advice and joined the C5 Family in August of 2023.
“I feel like CommuteAir is very much into seeing their students succeed, as long as you’re putting in the time and energy. All my instructors in training were very knowledgeable and true professionals and it felt like they were eager to see me succeed,” Hill said.
Hill strongly feels her military training prepared her for re-entry into the aviation industry. The rigor and emphasis the military puts on standardization and procedures is ingrained in you as a pilot. Although it was a big challenge initially transitioning from flying military turbo-prop aircraft to flying jets with passengers, her ability to recall and rely on her training and instincts helped ease the transition. Challenges aside, Hill wants to continue in the aviation industry, hopefully in an instructional role down the line.