Meet the female airline pilot who has turned the ‘dumb blonde’ stereotype upside down and taken social media by storm with her incredible cockpit-view videos and Instagram snaps
- The pilot is 31-year-old Michelle Gooris, from Amsterdam, who’s been a pilot for 10 years
- Michelle, aka DutchPilotGirl, has 333,000 subscribers on YouTube and 323,000 followers on Instagram
- READ MORE: World’s most ‘loved’ and ‘hated’ airlines revealed: India’s Go First is most disliked overall
With 333,000 subscribers on YouTube and 323,000 followers on Instagram, Michelle Gooris, aka DutchPilotGirl, is definitely a social media star on paper.
But she says she doesn’t feel like one, that she feels ‘like a pilot telling/sharing my story to the world and trying to inspire other people’.
And by all accounts, she’s doing a great job.
Michelle, 31, is a Boeing 737 pilot for a Dutch airline who posts fascinating, slickly produced cockpit-view videos of some of her flights, complete with on-screen explainers of what the pilots are doing and observing. Plus, interesting geography below is signposted.
Her followers clearly appreciate the effort that she goes to, describing her footage as ‘informative’, ‘appealing’ and ‘beautifully done’.
Michelle Gooris, 31, is a Boeing 737 pilot for a Dutch airline who posts fascinating, slickly produced cockpit-view videos
Michelle has 333,000 subscribers on YouTube and 323,000 followers on Instagram
https://youtube.com/watch?v=a1uFEtUANEI%3Frel%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26start%3D593%26hl%3Den-US
Michelle, a stunning blonde, is also turning the ‘dumb blonde’ stereotype on its head.
She tells MailOnline Travel: ‘Sometimes people do not expect [women] to be a pilot, but that is only the case for people outside of the aviation industry. In my company, I feel like I am being treated as one of the guys. I have never experienced not being taken seriously or open sexism. I have heard other stories from other women, though, so I won’t say that it doesn’t happen at all.’
Women are a distinct minority in the piloting community, but does she feel the glass ceiling has weakened for them?
The picture on the left of Michelle, taken during a Christmas break in Mexico, garnered over 20,000 views on Instagram. Michelle says that she ‘doesn’t feel like a social media star, but like a pilot telling/sharing my story’
MailOnline first spoke to Michelle six years ago when her social media videos began going viral. And they’re still attracting a huge number of clicks. Michelle recently posted an amazing video of a landing at Keflavik Airport in Iceland, with the footage attracting 515,000 views to date
These stills are taken from Michelle’s cockpit-view video of a landing at stunning Santorini. Michelle’s videos come complete with on-screen explainers of what the pilots are doing and observing. Plus, interesting geography below is signposted
https://youtube.com/watch?v=r8QFSoKTojs%3Frel%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26hl%3Den-US
Michelle, who lives in Amsterdam, says: ‘We are in the minority indeed, but I do see improvement. Nowadays there are more female pilots than ever, so I think we are headed in the right direction. I do not feel that making progress in the aviation industry is harder, since all exams and tests are the same. It all comes down to seniority and it won’t go any faster or slower because of gender.’
MailOnline first spoke to Michelle six years ago when her social media videos began going viral. And they’re still attracting a huge number of clicks.
Michelle says that landing is her favourite part of the flight as a pilot – and she recently posted an amazing video of one at Keflavik Airport in Iceland, with the footage attracting 515,000 views to date.
Michelle’s followers clearly appreciate the effort that she goes to with her videos, describing her footage as ‘informative’, ‘appealing’ and ‘beautifully done’
Michelle, a stunning blonde, has turned the ‘dumb blonde’ stereotype on its head
Michelle tells MailOnline Travel: ‘Sometimes people do not expect [a woman] to be a pilot, but that is only the case for people outside of the aviation industry.’ She adds: ‘In my company, I feel like I am being treated as one of the guys’
Michelle, who lives in Amsterdam, says: ‘[Women] are in the minority… but I do see improvement. Nowadays there are more female pilots than ever, so I think we are headed in the right direction’
https://youtube.com/watch?v=gpH4NQFT2tI%3Frel%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26start%3D604%26hl%3Den-US
In 2018, Michelle published an eBook called Become An Airline Pilot
And a companion take-off video from the same airport has so far garnered 214,000 views.
Michelle, who has been a pilot for 10 years, describes Iceland as ‘an epic place for the most stunning road trips, Northern Lights spotting, hiking to a glacier or volcano, blue lagoons and so much more’.
Another popular video on her YouTube channel shows a landing at the otherworldly Greek island of Santorini.
To the untrained eye, it looks like a tricky landing, with the runway perched right next to the sea.
But touching down there is all in a day’s work for Michelle.
She says: ‘The runway is shorter than usual and there is terrain nearby, but it is not considered difficult to land there.’
While there, she loves ‘renting a quad bike to explore’ and ‘grabbing a frappe while visiting places such as Fira and Imerovigli’.
‘You can find me in Oia to watch the amazing sunsets!’ she adds.
She has definitely earned the downtime.
You can find Michelle on YouTube at www.youtube.com/@DutchPilotGirl and on Instagram at dutchpilotgirl. In 2018, Michelle published an eBook called Become An Airline Pilot. For more visit michellegooris.com.
When MailOnline Travel asked Michelle what her favourite part of the flight was as a pilot, the answer was short and sweet: ‘The landings!’
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