“I Started at SUNY Schenectady!” Captain Lisa Deemer, PSA Airlines, Class of 2015, Aviation Science

There’s nothing like executing a perfect landing on a gusty day or knowing that you are the one who made sure that everyone on the 76-seat CRJ 900 you’re piloting arrived on time to their destination in the Midwest, Texas, Canada, or the Bahamas, except for maybe the view, according to Captain Lisa Deemer of PSA Airlines. “In the morning when we’re flying over the clouds and looking over the sunrise, some people never get to see that in their entire life,” said Captain Deemer, who has been with PSA Airlines since 2019 and got her start in aviation as a student in SUNY Schenectady’s Aviation Science degree program.

When she graduated from SUNY Schenectady in 2015, Captain Deemer also had her Private Pilot Certificate, Instrument Rating, and Commercial Pilot Certificate in conjunction with her A.S. degree. She soon landed a job flying the Cessna 172 and doing aerial surveying for Landcare Aviation, out of Griffiss International Airport in Rome, N.Y. After earning her Flight Instructor Certificate, Deemer was able to share her love for flight and her aviation expertise with students in New York’s Capital Region.

She explored a completely different arm of aviation when she began flying for SevenBar Aviation, as First Officer, piloting the Citation, as she transported patients to UNC Health Rex Hospital in Raleigh, N.C. In 2019, she made the move to PSA Airlines, a wholly-owned subsidiary of American Airlines, as a First Officer, flying out of Charlotte-Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, N.C. She was named Captain at PSA in Fall 2022. “I had finally made it to the job I had worked so hard for, when I became Captain,” Deemer shared. “All of my flight experience was pertinent and helped develop the problem-solving skills you need to have as a pilot.”

She encourages anyone interested in aviation, especially aspiring female pilots, to “Don’t be shy, go fly!”