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Stephanie ‘Boss’ Goetz

The Pink Jet pilot

Stephanie “Boss” Goetz is one of the “Aerial Angels” who fly an L–39 Albatros painted a bright pink to raise awareness for breast cancer.

Photography by Audrey Lee

“The Pink Jet is a symbol of strength, hope, compassion, and resilience for survivors and those affected by breast cancer. It is also a beacon of light that helps girls know they can do anything, that women can do everything they want to do—there is space of all of us,” Goetz said.

Goetz is a former news and sports anchor for network television who was introduced to aviation on a story. “This 80-year-old flight instructor called me and said, ‘You should do a story on aviation.’ So, I said OK, and as any good flight instructor knows, you throw the newbie in the left seat. And when I pulled back on that yoke and had that feeling of leaving the ground I thought where has this been all my life?”

She quickly went through her training and earning ratings and now flies a Bombardier Global 6000 for a private company. She and her husband Endre Holen own their own L–39 (it’s blue), and she joined Aerial Angels to empower survivors like her mother. “Breast cancer is scary and tough to go through. I watched it firsthand.” Goetz is one of The Pink Jet’s all-female crew that includes founders Vicky Benzing and Heather “Lucky” Penney. Goetz got her call sign “Boss” from a Marine Corps Harrier pilot who said things are “‘better with you in charge,’ so I guess that’s why I am a boss,” Goetz said.

How did you get started in aviation? It was never on my radar to become a pilot. No one in my family is a pilot. This is a third career for me. I was a news and sports anchor and reporter at NBC, CBS, and ABC affiliates in the U.S., then I started an executive coaching business.

What were your biggest challenges? Thankfully, there weren’t any significant obstacles. But like any flight student will tell you, the feeling of drinking through the firehose for more than a year and a half when I was going through my initial flight ratings was plenty challenging. But the reward of getting to pursue a jet type rating at the end of all the training pushed me to get through my ratings quickly and made the mundane or challenging days worth it.

Favorite aircraft? My favorite fun airplane to fly is the L–39. I do aerobatics and formation flying in that so it’s constantly honing my skills as a pilot, which I love. My favorite long-range mission aircraft to fly is the Bombardier Global 6000.

Favorite aviation-related activity? Aerobatics, formation flying, and fly-ins!

Advice for students? Don’t give up. Training can be daunting and exhausting. It’s that way for all of us. Keep your head up and get through the training as best you can. Make sure to have great people around you, who are ideally more successful than you, who can cheer you on and support you in your training. We all went through the same thing and can lend valuable insight to those going through it for the first time. Be grateful! Less than one percent of people in the United States have their pilot’s license. We are in a special group of spectacular people.

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Read how Goetz and Holen pay it forward.
Julie Walker
Julie Summers Walker
AOPA Senior Features Editor
AOPA Senior Features Editor Julie Summers Walker joined AOPA in 1998. She is a student pilot still working toward her solo.

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