![\"Lara](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/0024c165-614.jpg\"\/)
\nSonya Bissett said she always knew her daughter Lara would also become a pilot (Pic: Aer Lingus)<\/p>\n
Two Aer Lingus pilots made history earlier this week after becoming the first mother and daughter to operate a commercial flight together for the airline.<\/p>\n
Captain Sonya Bissett, who has been a commercial pilot with Aer Lingus for over 27 years, was joined on flight EI 650 from Dublin to Frankfurt by her daughter, First Officer Lara Danaher.<\/p>\n
While there have been many previous examples of family members working together on an Aer Lingus flight, it is the first time a mother and daughter operated a flight together in a proud moment for both Ms Bissett and Ms Danaher.<\/p>\n
Speaking to RT\u00c9 News, Ms Bissett said she always knew her daughter would become a pilot.<\/p>\n
“I remember when Lara was about four years of age, she always knew two pilots ‘flew the plane’. When I was putting on my uniform for work one day she said, ‘I know what mum, when I grow up, I\u2019ll be a pilot, that way I can come to work with you and we can fly the plane together’,” she said.<\/p>\n
“I guess from that day on it was in the back of my mind, that she might consider it as a career and maybe one day we would have the opportunity to fly together. It became more of a reality when I saw her passion grow as she got older.<\/p>\n
“Once she made up her mind to pursue this as a career, I knew her determination and hard work would see her succeed.”<\/p>\n
\nSonya Bissett said she always knew her daughter Lara would also become a pilot (Pic: Aer Lingus)<\/p>\n
Ms Danaher became a pilot through the Future Pilot Programme, a 14-month course run by Aer Lingus and a flight training school. The course allows applicants to combine classroom study and practical flight training.<\/p>\n
“Getting into the Future Pilot Programme wasn\u2019t easy. It had been a dream of mine since secondary school when I first learned about the programme through pilot career events,” Ms Danaher said.<\/p>\n
“I chose to study Aviation Management at DCU. While in college, I worked as a Flight Dispatcher at Dublin Airport for two years.<\/p>\n
“In my final year of college, I continued to do shift work on top of studying. I was able to save up and join a flying club and begin flying lessons on my days off.<\/p>\n
“When the Future Pilot Programme opened, I wasn\u2019t successful on my first attempt. Although it was disappointing, it motivated me to keep going and apply again.”<\/p>\n
Despite the setbacks, Ms Danaher did not give up on the dream she had of becoming a pilot since she was a child.<\/p>\n
“Becoming a pilot was always a dream of mine. Both of my parents are in the aviation industry, so I\u2019ve always grown up surrounded by it,” she said.<\/p>\n
“As I got older, so did my passion and I couldn\u2019t have seen myself in any other profession.<\/p>\n
“Flight training has been one of the most challenging, but also one of the most rewarding experiences. Each stage of training builds on the last, so you need to have a high level of commitment.<\/p>\n
“There have been so many moments that I\u2019ll never forget. My first solo flight was a huge milestone; it was the first time I had ever been alone in an aircraft.<\/p>\n
“But the moment that means the most to me was being able to fly with my mum. It had been a dream of mine since I was a child.”<\/p>\n
Ms Bissett said she was “immensely proud” to have Ms Danaher alongside her in her first flight as First Officer.<\/p>\n
“Lara has worked hard, like every pilot does, to get to this stage. It was an exciting drive to work to finally reach this day,” she said.<\/p>\n
“Honestly, it was the highlight of my career to have her beside me in the flight deck. I kept thinking of that four-year-old wanting to be a pilot so she could come to work with me!”<\/p>\n
![\"Lara](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/0024c166-614.jpg\"\/)
\nLara Danaher said she was ‘so grateful’ to be First Officer for the first time alongside her mother (Pic: Aer Lingus)<\/p>\n
The flight from Dublin to Frankfurt went as smoothly as possible, and neither Ms Bissett nor Ms Danaher had any nerves about flying together.<\/p>\n
“Airlines have strict Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in place to ensure that every flight is conducted safely and consistently. So, any relationship, parent and child, husband and wife, close friends are left outside the flight deck,” said Ms Danaher.<\/p>\n
“Safety is always the highest priority, and every flight is operated to the highest possible standard. Sticking to these SOPs ensures clearly defined Captain and First Officer roles, maintaining high levels of focus and professionalism.<\/p>\n
“So no, no nerves at all!” she added.<\/p>\n
Ms Bissett said that the moment meant that women in aviation had come a long way.<\/p>\n
“It was once considered unusual to have one female in the flight deck. Nowadays it\u2019s quite common and it\u2019s certainly not unusual to have two female pilots fly together,” she said.<\/p>\n
“To see a mother and daughter flying together as Captain and First Officer is very rare, but I believe it shows that aviation is more accessible to women.<\/p>\n
“I suppose the real progression will be when it\u2019s not considered remarkable, but just two pilots doing the job they love.<\/p>\n
“We are very proud to have achieved this together. I think any parent and child would be. As I look back on the path Lara is about to embark on, I can\u2019t help but feel honoured to have been her Captain for her first flight.<\/p>\n
“I am proud to have had her as my First Officer on that flight.”<\/p>\n
“It\u2019s very early days in my career but this already feels like a huge highlight,” said Ms Danaher.<\/p>\n
“My mum has been a role model for me in both my personal life and now in my professional life. Knowing how much that moment meant to both of us, is something I\u2019ll never forget.<\/p>\n
“I feel so grateful that we were able to share such a special moment together,” she added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two Aer Lingus pilots made history earlier this week after becoming the first mother and daughter to operate…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":568587,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,61,60],"class_list":["post-568586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=568586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568586\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/568587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=568586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=568586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=568586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}