First Tongan Woman Pilot Makes Another History, This Time Flies Plane With Daughter

61-year-old Captain Kamelia Zarka and First Officer Maria Zarka have now become the first mother-daughter pilot team in Hawaiian Airlines' 93-year history by flying the Boeing 717 in a series of Neighbor Island flights.

The first Tongan woman pilot to fly a commercial plane has made history again, this time with her pilot daughter. As Hawaiian Airlines' first mother-daughter pilot duo, Capt. Kamelia Zarka co-piloted with her daughter First Officer Maria Zarka.

First Tongan Woman Pilot breaking barriers

Born in the Kingdom of Tonga, Zarka moved to Hawaii after meeting her spouse. Capt. Kamelia Zarka has a solid history of breaking gender barriers from the very beginning. Zarka, who first started working as a flight attendant at Hawaiian Airlines, dreamt further and worked towards becoming a professional commercial pilot. She became the first Tongan woman to pilot a commercial plane in 1999.  

On a journey from Honolulu and Pago Pago in 1992, when she was offered to sit behind the pilots during her shift as a flight attendant, Zarka knew exactly what she wanted to pursue. It was not an easy journey to make way for herself in a male dominant industry, where hardly women pilots worked at the time. In a blog post, she said,  "There was plenty of bias against aspiring flight attendants, women, and polynesians."

Capt. Zarka, in a freewheeling chat with the airline’s spokesperson, spoke about unintentional history she made- be it as a woman of colour and as a mother. "I can’t reiterate how much of a gift sharing the cockpit with my daughter, Maria, was to me, those memories are ones that I will carry with me throughout the rest of my life. That day was a dream come true and instilled a sense of pride in me, as a mother and a captain, that I will never forget," she added.

Suggested reading: A Mother And Daughter Duo Create History After Piloting A Flight Together

History made with daughter

Capt. Zarka’s two daughters followed in her footsteps. As a mother and a pilot, she would often take her oldest daughter, Maria Zarka, on night shifts during her flight instructions. It wasn’t long before Maria Zarka started liking the world of flying planes. First Officer Maria Zarka, who eventually became a commercial pilot, worked for Republic Airlines for two years in the United States. She soon joined Hawaiian Airlines; before she knew it, she flew a plane with her mother.

"I consider myself blessed to have a mother who fought tirelessly to pave the door for future ladies as the first Tongan female to captain a commercial airline. It's now my turn. I'm excited to carry on my mother's legacy while forging my own as a Hawaiian Airlines pilot," First Officer Maria Zarka said in a statement.

Recently, a mother-daughter pilot duo made similar history at Southwest Airlines in July.