Black Women in Private Aviation: What They Never Tell You

I Almost Didn’t Write This

I sat with this story for a long time before I decided to share it.
Not because I had nothing to say. I had everything to say.
I sat with it because telling the truth means going back. Back to the moments I smiled through when I wanted to cry. Back to the hotel rooms on layovers where I sat alone wondering if I had made a terrible mistake. Back to the faces that looked at me and saw everything except who I actually was.
But then I thought about you.
The woman reading this right now.
Maybe you are standing at the edge of something big, trying to figure out if there is a place for you in this industry. Maybe someone has already told you there isn’t. Maybe you have been quietly carrying a question you are almost afraid to ask out loud.
I know that feeling.
I lived it.
And I am writing this for you the way I wish someone had written it for me.

The Little Girl Under the Almond Tree

I grew up in Haiti. A small village. Big dreams and very few resources to chase them with.
I used to sit under an almond tree and imagine a different life. One with airplanes and foreign cities and languages I hadn’t learned yet. One where my name meant something beyond the borders I was born into.
When I arrived in the United States, I had almost nothing. Limited English. No connections. No blueprint.
What I had was the kind of faith that refuses to negotiate with fear.

The World I Fell In Love With

I found aviation early. And from the first moment, it felt like home.
There was something about the energy of an airport, the precision of flight, the art of serving someone at 40,000 feet, that spoke to every part of who I was.
I spent over ten years as a commercial flight attendant and loved every bit of it.
So when I discovered private aviation, I felt like I had found the next level.
The service was elevated. The standards were exquisite. The access was unlike anything I had experienced before.
I studied obsessively. Aircraft. Luxury catering. Fine wine. The needs of ultra-high-net-worth clients. I prepared the way you prepare when you know the opportunity is rare and you refuse to waste it.
I was ready.
Or at least I thought I was.

The Moment I Realized I Was Different

When I started working in private aviation, I began noticing things.
At FBOs and private terminals, I rarely saw a face like mine. The Black professionals I did encounter were often working in roles that kept them out of sight. Behind the scenes. In the background.
Rarely in the cabin.
Rarely at the broker’s desk.
Rarely in the rooms where decisions were made.
And the clients I served? With very few exceptions, they did not look like me either.
A quiet question began forming in the back of my mind.
Is this actually a place for someone like me?
If you have asked yourself that question, I need you to hear me when I say this:
There is nothing wrong with you for wondering.
That question is not weakness. It is the honest response of a woman brave enough to walk into a room where she was never meant to feel welcome.
But wondering does not mean the answer is no.

You belong here. Fully. Unapologetically.

The Interview I Will Never Forget

There was one moment that I have carried with me for many years.
I was being considered for a full-time private jet flight attendant position. Before we met in person, the principal and I had multiple conversations. He was impressed. My aviation background, my culinary training, my ability to speak French and other languages. Everything was building toward something wonderful.
Then I walked into the room.
I watched his expression change.
He looked at me and said, “I didn’t know Black people spoke French.”
Time stopped.
I could have stood up and walked out. Part of me wanted to.
Instead, I sat down. I smiled. And I gave one of the most polished, professional interviews of my career.
When it was over, the chief pilot walked me to my car. He apologized quietly for what his boss had said.
Then we both laughed. Not because it was funny. But because sometimes laughter is the most dignified response to ignorance.
That moment could have broken something in me.
It didn’t.
It built something.

The Decision That Changed Everything

Throughout my career there were painful moments. Dismissals. Closed doors. People who decided who I was before I ever opened my mouth.
But early on, I made a quiet decision that I still live by today.
I would let every hard thing make me better. Not bitter.
That one choice changed the entire trajectory of my life.
I stopped waiting for doors to open and started finding windows. I prepared more. I showed up more polished, more knowledgeable, more undeniable than the version of me they expected to see. Not out of anger. But out of love for the work and a deep, unshakeable belief that I belonged.

What Private Aviation Gave Me

Private aviation gave me a life I once only dreamed about under that almond tree.
It gave me the world, literally. Cities I had only seen in magazines. Clients who challenged me to grow. An income that changed what was possible for my family.
Most importantly, it gave me the confidence to stop waiting for permission and start building something of my own.
Today I am the Founder and CEO of LuxJet Group, a private jet charter and travel management company that serves clients across the globe.
When I pause and think about that little girl in Haiti with her big dreams, I feel something I cannot fully put into words.If she could see me now, I think she would smile and say, See? I told you.

What I Want You to Know

If you are a Black woman standing at the entrance of this industry, trying to decide if there is room for you here, I want to speak directly to you.
This industry needs you.
It needs your intelligence and your warmth. Your cultural awareness and your resilience. Your ability to walk into a room and make every person in it feel genuinely seen.
You do not need to shrink.
You do not need to apologize for your ambition.
You do not need to wait for someone to decide you are ready.

You are already ready.

What Actually Builds a Career Here

A few things transformed my journey and opened doors I could not have predicted.
Speaking multiple languages was one of the most powerful. French opened rooms that might have otherwise stayed closed. Culinary training and sommelier knowledge elevated my value on every flight. Understanding aircraft and CRM at a professional level made me someone clients remembered and requested.
The more you bring to this work, the more this work will give back.

Your Reputation Is Everything

Private aviation is a small world.
What you say. How you handle difficult moments. Whether you show up when it is inconvenient. Whether you keep confidences when it matters. All of it travels faster than you think.
Build a reputation that walks into the room before you do.
It will open more doors than any résumé ever could.

Give Yourself Grace

Some experiences are going to hurt.
Some people will underestimate you. Some doors will close in ways that feel unfair because they are.
Rest when your body tells you to. Feel what you need to feel.
Then get up.
Because temporary rejection does not get to write your permanent story.

You Are Not the Exception

I want to leave you with this.
You are not an anomaly. You are not here by accident. You are not “lucky.”
You are part of something that is growing. And every Black woman who walks into this industry with excellence and integrity makes it a little easier for the woman who comes after her.
You are not the exception.
You are the beginning.

I Would Love to Walk This Path With You

If you are ready to build a career in private aviation, I am here.
Through one-on-one coaching and mentorship, I share everything I have learned across more than 25 years in this industry. The steps. The strategies. The honest truths I had to figure out on my own so you don’t have to.
Because sometimes all a woman needs is someone who has already walked the path, someone who can turn around and say:
I know the way. Come with me.

Ready to Connect?

Call or Text: (646) 944-0299 Email: contact@theluxjetgroup.com 
Website: www.luxjetgroup.com
Whether you are building a career in private aviation or ready to charter your next private flight, you will find guidance you can trust.
Safe. Reliable. Confidential. Personalized.
With love, xoxo Paulette