By Ronni Hannaman — Aristotle is to have said, “All men seek one goal: success or happiness. The only way to achieve true success is to express yourself completely in service to society.” Philosopher Will Durant summarized this phrase to the three words we hear often today, “success breeds success.”
At age 30, Hannah Fasiang, Carson High graduate and Valedictorian of the Class of 2013, could have been the person Aristotle had in mind, for this young woman’s successes to date have continued to breed success. In all she does.
She states, “I always knew what I wanted to be since before I could talk,” though her stated goal of becoming a medical doctor was not realized as she found her passion turn to the “wild blue yonder” becoming one of only 4.92% of females airline pilots worldwide.
I met this beautiful, determined, and confident young woman in my nail salon. It’s interesting what you can learn listening to other conversations. I had to bud in when she started talking about her flight work schedule and learned she is a Carson City resident, a graduate of Carson High, and now a First Officer for one of the world’s major airlines. I just had to get to know her better since I, too, was a product of the airline industry many years ago, though I was inside the cabin while she now sits in the cockpit as co-pilot of a Boeing 737.
The road to becoming a pilot wasn’t much of a stretch since her father, uncle, and grandfather are airline pilots, now making her the third generation of Fasiang airline pilots. It’s a wonder she had not wanted to fly since childhood.
The career path Fasiang traversed to becoming a pilot started at Carson High where she graduated with a 5.2 grade point average. She states upon entering Caron High, she told her counselor her goal was to become the valedictorian, the first in a long list of goals and accomplishments. For her extracurricular activity, she became an expert skier and a member of the Ski Patrol at Lake Tahoe.
Her academic achievements earned her a merit-based full ride four year scholarship allowing her to earn an undergraduate Honors Degree in Neuroscience from prestigious Westminster University in Utah. It was because of being able to focus solely on her studies without the worry of finances that the thought of someday giving back to others was born. Her next goal was to earn her medical degree at UNR’s School of Medicine.
In her first year of med school, Fasiang began to realize the childhood dream of becoming a doctor “was unfulfilling and wanted more freedom.” In 2018, she took a year-long sabbatical to reevaluate her future deciding to take flight lessons at Carson City Airport to earn her private pilot license.
The spark was ignited and she redefined her future knowing the arduous journey to becoming a commercial pilot was not an easy one. Becoming a commercial airline pilot requires rigorous training and unwavering commitment to earn the expensive licenses and ratings needed. It goes without saying that she aced her courses and was always at the top of her class.
Once she earned the various licenses, she began logging the minimum 1500 hours of flight time needed to apply as a commercial airline pilot. This she did by piloting an amphibious plane at Lake Tahoe that led to piloting a corporate Jetstream for 2.5 years allowing her to take off and land in 22 countries quickly gaining the needed hours.
With hours now successfully recorded in her flight log, a major airline came calling and off she was for another two months of rigorous training. Today, she still undergoes constant training in a flight simulator — as do all pilots — every nine months to prepare for any emergencies as well as quarterly online training. She assures all that flying is the safest mode of transportation.
This superstar was able to bypass the usual route of first flying for regional or smaller airlines before becoming a pilot for a major carrier. Since August of 2023, Fasiang sits in the First Officer seat of the Boeing 737 co-piloting on her preferred routes from San Francisco (her home base) to Alaska and Hawaii, though she will fly anywhere.
Back to Aristotle who prophesized “true success is to express yourself completely in service to society.” Fasiang has happily and successfully reached her personal goal and is now ready to express herself in “service to society” by starting her own foundation this past February to provide financial aid to would-be pilots by stating, “My mission is to support and empower the next generation of aspiring pilots by reducing financial barriers to flight training. As a third-generation pilot, I understand the challenges of pursuing an aviation career, especially for women, who remain significantly underrepresented in the industry. Through this scholarship, I aim to create opportunities for dedicated students — particularly women — who have demonstrated both a commitment to aviation and a passion for giving back. By investing in future aviators, I hope to inspire lasting change and foster a more diverse and inclusive aviation community.” Learn more about applying for or contributing to the scholarship by logging on to her Facebook page.
Fasiang loves Carson City and spends as much time as she can here. She is a role-model for young women who are determined to find their own success in male dominated careers knowing the path may be challenging.
She gives much credit for encouragement and assistance along her journey to her father Kent and mother Kathryn and other family members, her teachers, her mentors, and even an astronaut.
Hannah Fasiang has accomplished more academically and professionally in less than 10 years than most of us accomplish in a lifetime. We can’t wait to see what the next 10 years bring as she continues her climb into the “wild blue yonder.”
— Ronni Hannaman is the Executive Director of the Carson City Chamber of Commerce.
