Ayisha Minter went from dreaming of flying commercial jets with her father to becoming one of six check pilots certifying drone delivery operators for Wing, Alphabet’s pioneering drone delivery company. She shared what it takes to break into this rapidly growing field in this exclusive interview with TheDroneGirl.com.
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When Ayisha Minter arrived at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, she had a clear plan: follow in her Air Force pilot father’s footsteps and eventually share a cockpit with him as a United Airlines captain. That plan changed freshman year when she stumbled upon a tent at a campus career fair with three letters in bold white: UAS.
“I just needed to know what it was,” Minter said. She was so captivated by what she learned about the unmanned aircraft systems industry that she went to career services the very next day and changed her entire career path.
Since then, she has graduated and worked for all the major drone delivery players — Amazon, Zipline and now Wing, where she has been for about six years.
And nearly a decade since graduating from Embry-Riddle, Minter is one of six check airmen — or as she prefers, “check women” — responsible for certifying all Wing drone delivery operators across the United States. As Wing expands from Texas and Virginia to Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, and Florida, Minter is at the forefront of training the pilots who will make drone delivery a ubiquitous part of American life.
I sat down with Minter to discuss what it takes to become a drone delivery pilot, how the role has evolved, and where the industry is headed.
You can watch the full interview below, or keep scrolling for the text version:
Editor’s note: The text version of this interview has been edited for length and clarity.
The Drone Girl: You started as a flight operator with Wing and then transitioned to flight instructor. What was that journey like?
Ayisha Minter: It’s been amazing. I started with Wing five years ago— it’ll officially be six years this January. I was hired as a SUAS operator, which means I was the pilot in command. Back then, we were also trained as ground support operators, putting aircraft out in the morning and bringing them in at night, and we served as visual observers too. So we were multi-qualified in the role.
About two years ago, I moved to the standards and instruction team as a qualified instructor. I lead our ground evaluators and instructors, and I’m one of six check pilots for Wing.
The Drone Girl: Six years is a long time in the tech world. Most people move on after one or two. What’s kept you at Wing?
Ayisha Minter: Wing is such an amazing company and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. The opportunity to be part of something that’s truly revolutionizing how goods move through our cities — it’s incredible. And the growth opportunities have been there. I went from operating one aircraft at one Nest (that’s Wing’s term for where the drones take off) to now training pilots who can operate up to 32 aircraft simultaneously.
The Drone Girl: What’s the current limit for how many drones one pilot can operate in the U.S. with a waiver? Because at one point it was one drone per pilot.
Ayisha Minter: That’s the current limit for pilots in the U.S. In Australia, Wing pilots can operate up to 50 aircraft simultaneously. But the hope is that we won’t even have to think about limitations on the number of aircraft we can fly. It’s all about scalability.
The Drone Girl: So you train all Wing’s U.S. pilots. Do they come to you, or do you travel around?
Ayisha Minter: We have what we call the Wing Academy here in Dallas, Texas, where I’m based. Wing operates like any other Part 135 certificated air cargo delivery company in that we have our own training facility. All pilots from across the country come here for a week of training, get qualified on their crew roles, and then return to their respective service areas.
The Drone Girl: What happens during that week at Wing Academy?
Ayisha Minter: The goal is to introduce pilots to how Wing operates and train them on their crew-specific roles. We really emphasize checklist usage. I know it’s a traditional aviation concept, but it extends to the drone industry too. Safety is our most important priority, and checklist usage ensures we operate in a safe manner.
You’ll go through all the checklists, the crew roles and duties and responsibilities as an operator. Once you’ve completed your check ride, you’re qualified to go back to your service area and operate as a Wing pilot.
The Drone Girl: It sounds like going through a traditional flight school, which makes sense given your Embry-Riddle background. Did you know when you went there that you wanted to be in drone delivery?
Ayisha Minter: Absolutely not! I grew up in an aviation-centric family. My father went to Embry-Riddle, became a pilot, went to the United States Air Force, and recently retired as a triple-seven captain at United. My goal was to fly with him and to become a commercial airline pilot and share a cockpit with my father.
Then freshman year, I was walking across campus during the clubs and activities fair, and I saw that UAS tent. I went over, started talking to people about the drone industry, and I was instantly hooked. The next day I went to career services and changed my career path.
The Drone Girl: What classes or skillsets at Embry-Riddle stand out as particularly valuable for preparing you for this career?
Ayisha Minter: I think the biggest thing is communication. A lot of the classes focused on communication, and you don’t necessarily think about that as a drone operator, but it’s really important in our space.
You’re not just talking to individuals in the cockpit or your flight crew like in traditional aviation. You have to communicate across the industry — to engineers, to mechanics, all the way down to your ground crew. You have to be able to talk in their lingo and give information that’s relevant to them.
The Drone Girl: What communication advice would you give to aspiring drone pilots who didn’t go to Embry-Riddle?
Ayisha Minter: It summarizes into one thing: being clear and concise. Just like you need to be clear and concise on the airwaves in traditional aviation, it’s the same in the drone space. You want to provide information that gives people actionable items.
The Drone Girl: Walk me through a day in the life of a Wing flight operator.
Ayisha Minter: The day in the life is exciting. We no longer have to be co-located with the nest or where operations are happening. Pilots go to a remote operations center, sit at their desk with a ground control station, and service a whole metropolitan area.
A pilot can work within a 12-hour window, but really they’re just managing airspace. Your day-to-day is making sure the aircraft are operating normally, checking there aren’t weather limitations you’re butting up against. The aircraft is autonomous all the way up to the detect and avoid system, so you as a pilot are communicating with your crew as required and verifying that weather is good and operations within your airspace are nominal.
The Drone Girl: How has the role changed over the past five years? I know there was a time when visual observers had to keep eyes on the drone at all times.
Ayisha Minter: It’s completely different. In traditional aviation, there’s so much for the pilot to do—human in the loop, I like to say. But now we’re really the human on the loop. We’re there to observe and make sure systems are working nominally.
The attention span as a pilot is different. You don’t have so many physical inputs to make. It’s more about making sure the system operates normally. And I think that gives an opportunity to make the drone industry grow. There’s not as much prior experience required.
When I started, a lot of pilots coming in had prior military or traditional aviation experience. This opens opportunities for so many other people to get in.
The Drone Girl: Speaking of getting in — you have one of the coolest jobs. What would you recommend to someone who wants to become a drone delivery pilot?
Ayisha Minter: There are three key things. Obviously, you still need your Part 107 and a valid driver’s license. Those requirements remain the same.
But the three components I always tell students: You have to be able to adapt. Communication is key. And be okay with being uncomfortable.
Things are changing so frequently in this industry. With the Part 108 rules being developed and wondering what the finalized rule will be, there’s so much to keep up with. Do you need to have eyes on the drone? How far can it fly? Adaptability really is the key word.
The Drone Girl: What do you think are the biggest changes on the horizon for drone delivery?
Ayisha Minter: Scale. It’s all about scalability and the expansion of what a pilot can do. I went from operating one aircraft at one nest five years ago to now pilots being able to operate multiple aircraft simultaneously. We want to be able to get to a point with new regulations where we can operate a whole metroplex and to expand further than what we’ve done before.
The Drone Girl: What should consumers expect going forward? Everyone wants drone delivery in their city.
Ayisha Minter: As you’re aware, we recently announced we’re operating in Atlanta, and we’ll also be moving to Florida and Houston this year. We’ve expanded in Charlotte too. We’re going to continue to expand to multiple locations, hopefully near you soon.
The Drone Girl: I’m still waiting in San Francisco! Though I have to admit, between drone delivery and Waymos, I can’t be too greedy since the Waymos are already here.
Ayisha Minter: I hear you!
Want to hear more from Ayisha Minter? Tune into my YouTube channel for our full interview!
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The post How to become a drone delivery pilot: Inside Wing’s flight training academy appeared first on The Drone Girl.