Dianna klein Rules

Crowned 2022 Nevada Mother of the Year, this airline pilot mom proves that opening your eyes to your own potential is the first step to success—and then you need to find your grit.

Las Vegas, Nevada

“I think a solid marriage is the foundation for everything else in life,” says Dianna Klein in a tone that rings with sincerity. “And my husband Mark and I, we've been married for 18 years, We met in college, We dated for a year, we were engaged for a year and then we married.” It’s the stuff of storybooks, but Dianna has written hers into something completely unique. 

Always a self-described rough-and-tumble kid looking for adventure, she found aviation early in life. “I’ve been a pilot since I was 15 years old. Cessnas, taildraggers, then heavy military cargo jets and Boeings—and even operating drones,” she laughs. “Serving in the US military was a highlight of my career. I was an officer in the United States Air Force flying the C-5 Galaxy during Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom." 
A family of four, husband, two young boys, and wife, all stand holding hands on the pavement at the airport in front of a blue and white vintage Cessna airplane. Both parents are looking down at their children. It is sunny outside and the father and boys are wearing jeans and long plain sweaters while the mother is wearing a blue and red plaid dress with long brown boots. It is a picture of a happy family.
A family of four, husband, two young boys, and wife, all stand holding hands on the pavement at the airport in front of a blue and white vintage Cessna airplane. Both parents are looking down at their children. It is sunny outside and the father and boys are wearing jeans and long plain sweaters while the mother is wearing a blue and red plaid dress with long brown boots. It is a picture of a happy family.
A family of four, husband, two young boys, and wife, all stand holding hands on the pavement at the airport in front of a blue and white vintage Cessna airplane. Both parents are looking down at their children. It is sunny outside and the father and boys are wearing jeans and long plain sweaters while the mother is wearing a blue and red plaid dress with long brown boots. It is a picture of a happy family.
A family of four, husband, two young boys, and wife, all stand holding hands on the pavement at the airport in front of a blue and white vintage Cessna airplane. Both parents are looking down at their children. It is sunny outside and the father and boys are wearing jeans and long plain sweaters while the mother is wearing a blue and red plaid dress with long brown boots. It is a picture of a happy family.
It wasn’t an easy path, by any stretch. Writing in her online blog, Dianna explains, “Pursuing a professional piloting career isn’t easy. It doesn’t take PhD-level brainpower, but it does take work, dedication, passion, and a willingness to never give up. You have to learn to push through the training plateaus, learn to be humble enough to admit when you’re wrong, and confident enough in your decision making abilities to choose a path with the best information you have at the time. And the studying…countless hours and weekend festivities I missed while absorbing huge amounts of knowledge. It takes grit. A lot of grit. And if you don’t have it before you start down a piloting career path, you’ll either acquire it or fail.”
Dianna and Mark Klein are standing and holding hands in front of the nose of a parked jet and looking at each other smiling.
Dianna and Mark Klein are standing and holding hands in front of the nose of a parked jet and looking at each other smiling.
Dianna and Mark Klein are standing and holding hands in front of the nose of a parked jet and looking at each other smiling.
Dianna and Mark Klein are standing and holding hands in front of the nose of a parked jet and looking at each other smiling.
Fortunately for Dianna, she acquired it. “I credit the grit I’ve acquired through military and civilian aviation in part for the woman I am today,” she continues. 

From the military Dianna went to the airlines, hiring on to United, where she currently flies the Boeing 737, commanding from the captain’s seat.  “My husband followed me all the way through my career. He's been my biggest supporter. He's also a pilot, which is a huge help. We had that in common and would talk about it over dinner. We understand where each other's coming from,” she explains. “So to me marriage is definitely my number one and then my number two are my kids. And the reason my marriage comes before my kids is because if kids see a loving happy marriage, then they are going to know that they have a solid home to come home to and that mom and dad love each other." 
A woman and child are sitting on the grass by a lake. The woman is wearing a black top and has her left arm around the boy who is leaning into his mother. Both mother and child are facing away from the camera.
A woman and child are sitting on the grass by a lake. The woman is wearing a black top and has her left arm around the boy who is leaning into his mother. Both mother and child are facing away from the camera.
A woman and child are sitting on the grass by a lake. The woman is wearing a black top and has her left arm around the boy who is leaning into his mother. Both mother and child are facing away from the camera.
A woman and child are sitting on the grass by a lake. The woman is wearing a black top and has her left arm around the boy who is leaning into his mother. Both mother and child are facing away from the camera.
Today the couple have two boys, ages five and three. “They love aviation just as much as their daddy and I do, so it's been really fun with them toddling around the airport. Watching them fly the plane (with their parents' expert assistance) is a blast,” she smiles. 

Outside of her “day” job as an airline pilot, Dianna runs Shenandoah Aviation, LLC, specializing in aviation business operations. In 2020 United was offering temporary furloughs, so she seized the opportunity to take leave and join Zero-Gravity Corporation as pilot and Director of Business Operations. She became the first woman qualified by the FAA to fly aerobatics in an airliner. 
A C-5 Galaxy and the Zero Gravity Boeing 727 are next to each other at an airport. These airplanes are two of the main aircraft that Dianna Klein has flown in her career.
A C-5 Galaxy and the Zero Gravity Boeing 727 are next to each other at an airport. These airplanes are two of the main aircraft that Dianna Klein has flown in her career.
A C-5 Galaxy and the Zero Gravity Boeing 727 are next to each other at an airport. These airplanes are two of the main aircraft that Dianna Klein has flown in her career.
A C-5 Galaxy and the Zero Gravity Boeing 727 are next to each other at an airport. These airplanes are two of the main aircraft that Dianna Klein has flown in her career.
With the spare time she’s got, she gives back. She serves on the board of the local chapter of Women in Aviation International and founded Take Flight to Fight the Opioid Epidemic, introducing youth to aviation by piloting their first flight to set sights on dreams rather than drugs. During the COVID-19 lockdown she organized a grassroots effort that delivered more than 300 meals to recovering addicts who had been homeless.
A woman is weightless in the fuselage of an airplane, upside down holding her knees up to her chest, suspended in air. She is wearing a flight suit and a face mask, and her brown hair is flowing all around her.
A woman is weightless in the fuselage of an airplane, upside down holding her knees up to her chest, suspended in air. She is wearing a flight suit and a face mask, and her brown hair is flowing all around her.
A woman is weightless in the fuselage of an airplane, upside down holding her knees up to her chest, suspended in air. She is wearing a flight suit and a face mask, and her brown hair is flowing all around her.
A woman is weightless in the fuselage of an airplane, upside down holding her knees up to her chest, suspended in air. She is wearing a flight suit and a face mask, and her brown hair is flowing all around her.
And the pageants? “It's been a blast,” she chuckles, when asked about getting involved with the system that many have mixed feelings about. Her emotions about participating are anything but mixed, which certainly played into her success. 

Dianna earned the titles Mrs. Nevada-American in 2020, and then Nevada Mother of the Year in 2022. “This pageant system is highly encouraging of a family of marriage and of career,” she explains. “Being Mrs. Nevada-American was really fun. I was able to tell people that they can be all of these things. You can be a wife, you could be a mom, you can be an airline pilot and you can still be a feminine girly girl and then you can still be a tomboy and have fun and dress in a t-shirt and blue jeans and go fly airplanes and, honestly? It is the best thing,” she grins ear-to-ear. 

If you ask Dianna which airplane is her favorite she won’t hesitate: it’s the little Cessna taildragger she owns and flies along with her husband. “I learned how to fly in something very similar, and my dad also brought me up flying taildraggers, which means the tail drags on the ground via a small tail wheel. And this kind of flying is just going back in time, for me. It's going back to basics, it's going back to what I love about the art of the airplane, and that is just getting up and flying, and I love to share it with people,” she explains. “On my days off I enjoy just going out to beat around the pattern and take people flying just to watch the big smiles on their faces." 
A woman with long brown hair pulled back in a ponytail and wearing a black t-shirt, is inspecting the wing of a vintage blue and white Cessna, looking and touching the wing.
A woman with long brown hair pulled back in a ponytail and wearing a black t-shirt, is inspecting the wing of a vintage blue and white Cessna, looking and touching the wing.
A woman with long brown hair pulled back in a ponytail and wearing a black t-shirt, is inspecting the wing of a vintage blue and white Cessna, looking and touching the wing.
A woman with long brown hair pulled back in a ponytail and wearing a black t-shirt, is inspecting the wing of a vintage blue and white Cessna, looking and touching the wing.
What she says about her Abingdon watch

“I love the one that I have on now because when I take the band off, there's a ruler on the back. When I have to measure something in a store, such as a piece of furniture, I can get an exact measurement. I love the dials that she integrates into my other watch that actually have a function. One, instead of having a flight computer, has  A through Z  on the bezel, for marking the ATIS weather information that we pick up as pilots before we check in with an approach controller. It helps me remember which one I need to report in to approach control. I can look down and it’s there if I set it. My oldest Abingdon watch is four years old now, and it hasn’t failed me yet. I love that reliability.”
What she wears:
Jane Watch
Ameriquartz Cal. 7122, Day/Date function, 3 Hand, Bidirectional inner bezel - compass