Captain Jan Anderson wearing a Green tank top and in a position ready to hit a a gold ball at a gold course with a Abingdon watch on her left wrist

OVERCOMING IS-ms, & more

What keeps Boeing 777 captain Jan Anderson worrying in a world that has lambasted her with its “is-ms”—sexism, racism, homophobia and other intolerances? The captain has an announcement to make

Captain Jan Anderson wearing a Green tank top and in a position ready to hit a a gold ball at a gold course with a Abingdon watch on her left wrist

Palm Springs, California

A pioneer in her field of commercial aviation, she had to tell herself to be patient in 1988, when she first arrived at American. “Leadership will change,” she told herself. “I knew that women on the flight deck were going to change all of it, and we’d change the face of aviation, too. But when I was hired it was not safe to be “out.” Literally not safe. There was fear of emotional abuse, and even fear of being fired,” she recalls.

Abingdon Co. Image displays Jan Anderson and wife of 30+ years, Kore Grate, playing a round of golf in Palm Springs before attending the National Gay Pilots Association annual expo.

The "C" word

Those days are long gone, and today she says that her crew members, flight attendants, gate agents, dispatch—her whole team has her back. It is a different company. She learned how much that support meant when her doctor told her she had breast cancer. “It literally took my breath away when my doctor told me, because how could I have breast cancer? I’m healthy! I had no family history of cancer. I exercised and ate right. I took supplements and did it all. And still I got breast cancer,” she remembers. “But thank God for my amazing medical team, my work team, my wife, my family and everyone who got me through it.”

Abingdon Co. Image displays Captain Jan Anderson is ready to fly. An older woman in a pilot uniform with her arms cross looking towards the sky smirking while she wears an Abingdon watch

Work Hard, Play Hard

Today her only worry is, will it come back? “I have learned not to try and run from the fear, though,” she says.

As for her collection of Abingdon watches (and she’s got a few that she shares with her wife). “I get tons of compliments, and the thing is, I play hard and work hard, and these watches have gone through everything and still look brand new. But what I like the most is that the Abingdon Co clearly celebrates diversity, and particularly women. Abingdon empowers them. I love to help support that.”

What she says about her Abingdon watch

"I get tons of compliments, and the thing is, I play hard and work hard, and these watches have gone through everything and still look brand new. But what I like the most is that the Abingdon Co clearly celebrates diversity, and particularly women. Abingdon empowers them. I love to help support that.”

Abingdon Co. image displays Amelia Runway Black with a painted brass dial, sapphire crystal and a silver stainless steel case and crown with a genuine black leather strap. watch is in an upward front view photo. Silver steel case and crown watch with black dial and silver and white hands with a smaller hand being red as well as black genuine leather strap. watch band is clipped together and case is in an upward position.

What she wears:

Amelia Watch

Swiss GMT, E6B Flight Computer, Date Function, 4 Hand