Full Throttle

Photo c/o High Tide Aviation

Look up, and there’s a chance you might glimpse one of these women shaping the aviation landscape above Southeastern North Carolina.

From saving lives to building an enterprise to training the next generation, these women work in different sides of the industry. They all have one thing in common: At one point, they had their heads in the clouds, and now they’re flying through them.

JESSICA WARD, founder and CEO of High Tide Aviation, first flourished in the film industry after graduating from the University of North Carolina Wilmington in 2006 with a degree in film studies. She spent her twenties building a successful career as a camera assistant, but long before movie sets and television productions, there was one moment that stayed with her.

“When I was six years old, I took a helicopter ride at the state fair, and it was one of those moments in your life that you remember forever,” she says. “I’ll never forget seeing the fairgrounds from up above. It was just so magical.”

Private helicopter lessons are expensive, so she saved her money and eventually set aside enough to earn her private pilot certificate while working on a TV series in Oregon in the summer of 2010.

“Over the next couple years, I would fly and continue my training whenever I had an opportunity, which was usually when I was traveling for work out west,” she says.

Ward earned a scholarship from Whirly-Girls, the Association of International Women Helicopter Pilots, and completed her commercial pilot certificate in 2012. The following year she became a helicopter flight instructor.

After realizing there were few helicopter flying jobs in Southeastern North Carolina, she knew she had to do something if she wanted to keep flying while living in the Wilmington area.

“There was a void in the market as far as access to helicopters for either flight training or air tours or anything,” Ward says. “I thought, if the job that I really want – my dream job – doesn’t exist, I’ll just create it. So that’s what I did.”

Ward began operating and training students at the Cape Fear Regional Jetport in Southport. She put together a business plan, found financing, purchased her first helicopter, and officially opened for business in January 2014 – all while still working part-time in film.

In 2020, she decided to go back to school – this time for business, to help her develop the tools to grow her company – and earned her executive MBA from Duke University. While pursuing her degree, Ward also decided to open her second location in St. Simons Island, Georgia. She splits her time between North Carolina and Georgia and works with a team of twenty-four full- and part-time employees across both states.

High Tide Aviation specializes in helicopter and airplane pilot training as well as providing aircraft rentals, flight instruction, and aerial tours – both scenic and for surveying. Gender reveals have become a popular request, where a colored powder is released from the helicopter or airplane while in flight.

Over the next two years, Ward plans on expanding the business into aircraft maintenance, aircraft brokerage, and private charter flights.

When Ward isn’t busy operating and growing her business, she’s busy with her six-year-old daughter and two-month-old baby boy. She credits being a business owner and the flexibility of both her schedule and finances with her quality of life and being able to be a mom.

“I have known for many years I wanted to be a mom. When I decided to start my own business, that was before I had children and a family to consider, and I was able to take more financial risks,” she says. “But I knew that I wanted to have a family one day.”

Ward’s favorite part of her job is introducing aviation to people, especially children, who have never had access or the opportunity to experience it.

“It’s so impactful and rewarding,” she says, “to be able to see their reaction, experience that joy with them and share that with people for the first time.”

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