{"id":226309,"date":"2025-12-02T13:48:54","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T23:48:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=226309"},"modified":"2025-12-05T10:21:58","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T20:21:58","slug":"uh-hilo-aeronautical-science-alum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2025\/12\/02\/uh-hilo-aeronautical-science-alum\/","title":{"rendered":"UH<\/abbr> Hilo aeronautical science alum blazes trail in aviation"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"woman
Mandaloniz is the first woman in UH<\/abbr> Hilo\u2019s aeronautical program to earn a pilot\u2019s license.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Aislynn Mandaloniz just reached a milestone every pilot works toward: 1,500 flight hours. The achievement now qualifies the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at Hilo alumna to fly commercial jets and marks a major step forward in her aviation career.<\/p>\n

\"Mandaloniz
Aislynn Mandaloniz<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For Mandaloniz, it marks another first. She was the first woman from UH<\/abbr> Hilo\u2019s aeronautics program to complete flight training and earn her pilot\u2019s license.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m thankful for my time at UH<\/abbr> Hilo, providing me with the ground knowledge of aviation and preparing me for the rigorous schooling I had up ahead to later land my first job as a commercial pilot, and now being able to move on to fly jets!” she said.<\/p>\n

Pushing higher<\/h2>\n
\"women
Mandaloniz with her diploma from UH<\/abbr> Hilo and flight training certificate.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mandaloniz was born and raised in Hilo and graduated from Wai\u0101kea High School in 2020. She interned at Hilo International Airport with the Air Traffic Control team before enrolling in the program. She finished her bachelor\u2019s degree in just three years.<\/p>\n

After graduation, she trained at Lift Academy on the U.S. continent. There, she spent long days in the air and long nights studying. That discipline pushed her to the 1,500-hour mark, a level that opens doors to larger aircraft and major airlines.<\/p>\n

“If you are seeking a career, make sure this is something you truly want to do for the rest of your life,” she said. “Aviation is hard, but it is far worth it. It requires enormous amounts of self-discipline, but the end result is immeasurable.”<\/p>\n

Mandaloniz hopes her path shows other students what\u2019s possible. She knows the road is demanding. She also knows the payoff is worth it. And she\u2019s just getting started.<\/p>\n

For more on Mandaloniz\u2019s journey go to UH<\/abbr> Hilo Stories<\/a>.<\/p>\n

—By Susan Enright<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UH<\/abbr> Hilo alumna Aislynn Mandaloniz has reached 1,500 flight hours, qualifying her to fly commercial jets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":226304,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[1589,90,679,271,14,907],"class_list":["post-226309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-aeronautical-science","tag-alumni","tag-alumni-recognition","tag-uh-alumni-association","tag-uh-hilo","tag-uh-hilo-stories","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/hilo-mandaloniz-a-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226309"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226309\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":226312,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226309\/revisions\/226312"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/226304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}