Tammie Jo Shults To Be Honored at 2021 International Hall of Fame Gala

Tammie Jo Shults, a retired Southwest Airlines pilot and one of the first female fighter pilots in the U.S. Navy, will be honored in person at the 2021 International Air & Space Hall of Fame Gala at the San Diego Air & Space Museum on Nov. 20.

Shults and Barbara Barrett, an American businesswoman, attorney and diplomat who served as the United States Secretary of the Air Force, were introduced as the 2020 Class of the International Air & Space Hall of Fame during a special video conference in 2020.

“Tammie Jo Shults and Barbara Barret are two groundbreaking and truly remarkable female aviators, and both deserve to be recognized in person for their accomplishments,” said Jim Kidrick, president and CEO of the San Diego Air & Space Museum. “We’re thrilled Tammie Jo will be joining us for this year’s Hall of Fame Celebration because it will give us the opportunity to properly honor her and afford her the recognition she deserves.”

Shults is a retired pilot for Southwest Airlines and one of the first female fighter pilots in the U.S. Navy. She has been praised for her quick thinking and calm demeanor under pressure during an emergency landing that saved 149 passengers at Philadelphia International Airport. While in the United States Navy in 1985, Shults served as an instructor pilot flying the F/A 18 Hornet and EA-6B Prowler, eventually achieving the rank of lieutenant commander.

Shults, along with the entire 2021 Class of the International Air & Space Hall of Fame, will be honored on Nov. 20.

The 2021 International Air & Space Hall of Fame Class includes:

• Ed Bolen, president and CEO of the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA);
• Commemorative Air Force, which has the world’s definitive and largest collection of Warbirds;
• Eileen Collins, the first female commander of the Space Shuttle and the first person to fly the shuttle to two different space stations;
• Charlie Duke, Apollo 16 Moonwalker – the youngest and tenth man to walk on the Moon – and CAPCOM for the historic Apollo 11 Moon landing;
• FedEx, the world’s largest full-service, all-cargo airline and an industry pioneer in its use of aviation in its delivery systems, with founder and CEO Fred Smith present and accepting;
• Bryan Moss, president emeritus of Gulfstream Aerospace, and former president and executive vice president of the Aerospace Group General Dynamics Corporation; and
• Dee O’Hara, the official nurse to the Mercury Seven astronauts and an astronaut nurse during America’s groundbreaking Gemini, Apollo and Skylab programs.

The International Air & Space Hall of Fame is the most prestigious induction of its kind in the world and is composed of hundreds of air and space pioneers, engineers, inventors and innovators, along with adventurers, scientists and industry leaders.

NASA Mercury, Gemini and Apollo astronauts and Russian cosmonauts are honored in the Hall, as well as famous legends such as the Wright Brothers, Charles Lindbergh, Neil Armstrong and Amelia Earhart. Notable inductees also include Buzz Aldrin, Chuck Yeager, Igor Sikorsky, Wernher von Braun, Jack Northrop, Jackie Cochran, William Boeing, Sr., Reuben H. Fleet, Glenn Curtiss, Walter Zable Sr., Fran Bera, Wally Schirra, Bill Anders, Jim Lovell, T. Claude Ryan, Jimmy Doolittle, Bob Hoover, Ellen Ochoa, Peggy Whitson, Linden Blue, Jeff Bezos, Patty Wagstaff, and many more. 

More than 600 national and international business, aviation and space leaders are anticipated to attend the 2021 International Air & Space Hall of Fame Celebration, including prominent representatives and Hall of Fame members from prior years. Tickets are available on the museum’s website.