LYNN — Peek out the window next time you fly American Airlines out of Logan International Airport and you just might see Maria Diaz guiding your jet onto the taxiway.
An American employee since 2018 who has worked at Logan since 2012, Diaz loves the hectic early morning schedule that puts her on the wind-swept airport tarmac in all seasons and all weather.
“People ask, ‘How do you like working with guys? How come you’re not up in customer service?’ I don’t think like that,” she said.
Diaz said she has never backed down from a challenge since she was a little girl. When her father died and she saw her mother mourning and struggling to feed their family in Puerto Rico, Diaz took on a paper route with her sister.
“I gave her $112 and said, ‘Mom, this is for you.’ I was 11,” she recalled.
Her early work life included a stint in radio. She broadened her journalism experience to working for Univision and took pride in nailing down celebrity interviews.
“I waited six hours for Johnny Depp,” she said.
When a friend urged her to look into working at Logan, she accepted the challenge and found herself on frigid days clearing ice off aircraft wings.
“I’m a task person — I’m not scared to do it,” she said.
A Lynn resident since 1995, she loves working for American Airlines and said the company’s employee-first, family-oriented corporate ethic makes her job a dream come true. It is also a job that requires getting out of bed at 2:30 a.m.
She arrives at work at 4 a.m. and inspects her “wands” and communication headset to make sure she is ready to work. Diaz is part of a four-person team charged with guiding an aircraft from the jetway, connecting the plane to the terminal, and out to the taxiway leading to runways.
Sometimes she is a “wing walker” stationed on either side of the aircraft. She also works in front of the plane, using the lighted wands to give the pilot directions and communicating through the headset.
“I make sure I am always on time. I want to be sure the plane doesn’t leave late — I’m thinking about the passengers. It’s a cool job,” she said.
Diaz draws strength from her mother’s lessons and from her children — her son, Daniel Donator, 22, and daughters Kassandra Flores, 27, and Nadia Donator, 19. Flores is under treatment for cancer.
“She is my strength. She says, ‘If you’re sad, I get sad,'” Diaz said.
Her advice to her children about living life is the same she offers younger women.
“My mom always said, ‘If you can do it, go ahead and do it.’ I tell my kids, ‘Don’t give up on your dream.’ And if any young girls think working at the airport is for men, I say, ‘Come to American.'”
