Keeping Christ at the Center at 30,000 Feet

“When I first started flying on Air Force One as a permanent crew member, I did not realize I was making history...”

On a trip from Bermuda, a flight attendant noticed a scared, six-year-old little girl. That girl’s name was Wanda Marie Joell, and on that day, a flight attendant ignited a dream of service in Wanda’s heart. That moment became a calling. Wanda says, “she inspired me as a little girl.  I said, you know what? The way she made me feel, I want to make someone feel like that one day.” After high school, Wanda applied to airline after airline. She was young and motivated, but the rejections came quickly, and often. However, raised in faith as a pastor’s daughter, Wanda believed God was still at work — even as doors were closing.

She prayed.

Then, instead of commercial airlines, God opened a different door. Her first assignment sent her to England. Though still on the ground, Wanda served her community. Wanda says, “When I first joined the Air Force, I went into transportation.  I knew that I just wanted to be on a airplane somewhere.” After two and a half years there, something stopped Wanda in her tracks --- “When I saw that first blue and white airplane land at the terminal, and I found out that the Air Force had flight attendants, I said, how do I sign up?” says Wanda. Still, Wanda’s dream would have to wait. After over a year of filing paperwork, and then more waiting, something extraordinary happened --- instead of Wanda traveling for an interview, the interview came to her. Wanda was then accepted as a flight attendant on air force two --- her very first flight attending position. Ever. Then four years later, she was called to serve the president on air force one. Only afterward, did she truly realize what god had done. 

Wanda Marie Joell became the first African American woman permanently assigned as a flight attendant, on Air Force One. She would go on to faithfully serve there for 24 years, continuing to impact history along the way.

On September 11, 2001, Wanda was aboard air force one. In the middle of national tragedy,

God placed a woman of faith exactly where she was needed. Wanda shares: 

“the president and I got a chance to embrace, he was coming out the oval office, we called it the Air Force one Oval Office. I'm coming towards him down the aisle. And we just got a chance to embrace. And I said to him, President Bush, God has us in his hands. We are gonna be okay, and he felt that he appreciated that moment with me to share that with him.”

When asked if the color of her skin was ever an obstacle in her career, Wanda says… “I didn't even look at it as color I felt like opportunities are there for everyone. And I held onto that. I didn't feel like anyone was better than me I could do what you could do. I believe that inspired me to say that no one's going to stop me cause of the color, of my skin to make history.”

Over the course of her career, Wanda served four American presidents, all with whom she developed a deep rapport. Then, after 28 years in the Air Force, and more than 5,000 flight hours, Wanda retired in 2010. But she didn’t stop serving.

She became a foster parent.

A speaker in schools and churches.

A mentor to the next generation.

And now, she’s writing a children’s book called Dreams in Flight, hoping to inspire children the way that flight attendant, so long ago, inspired her. Wanda shares: “My life is living proof that all things are possible; if God has it for you, no one can stop what God has for you. I truly believe that that door is not gonna close til you walk in it. It’s yours for the asking.”

To find out more about Wanda’s upcoming children’s book, Dreams in Flight, and also contact Wanda about speaking engagements, visit her at www.wandajoell.com .