Love Aviation Style: Katie Vena and Aaron Mohnke Take Off and Tie the Knot!

Posted by Tom Thinnes on

Katie (Vena) and Aaron Mohnke on top of dormant volcano in Auckland, New Zealand

Pilot-spouses Katie and Aaron Mohnke (pronounced Monk) might assess their aviation careers so far as being "the best of times and the worst of times" -- with a majority emphasis on the former. 

Since their graduation from the WMU College of Aviation with degrees in aviation flight science in 2016 and 2015, respectively, there has been a period or two when they wore the same airline uniform; but other times -- including right now -- they have been flying for different enterprises. 

Request College of Aviation Information

The Mohnkes visiting the Arch in St. Louis 

"Even though I love doing this job with my wife," Aaron says, "it does come with challenges.  Being away from each other for up to four days at a time is hard.  But the flip side is being off together for three or four days, getting to spend quality time without work interfering.  When we are off, we are off -- no e-mails, no spreadsheets.  We have free time to explore new foods, work on our (Detroit-area) house, and entertain aviation friends in the area." 

"I would love to be able to fly with Aaron again," Katie says.  "It's a dream of ours to work flights to Paris together."  That's on the horizon right now because he flies for Spirit Airlines out of Detroit while she has parlayed her stint with the same low-cost carrier into a "CJO (conditional job offer)" with Delta Air Lines -- a moment she says she will never forget, and there's a good reason for that as will be shown shortly in this article.   "When I was physically handed my CJO, I will never be able to express in words how I felt.  I had tears of joy in my eyes."  (Editor's note - since publishing the article - Aaron has accepted a CJO with Delta too!)
 
The Mohnkes' paths first crossed as undergrads at the College of Aviation.  She came from Canton (Salem High in 2013), which is located in northwestern Wayne County halfway between Detroit and Ann Arbor.  Aaron once called Grand Ledge home, graduating from its high school in 2012.  Grand Ledge is 13 miles west of Michigan's capital city of Lansing in the south-central part of the Lower Peninsula. 

Katie and her brother, Valentine, in front of a KLM 747, the company their parents met at while employed by the airline

Katie kind of qualifies as an aviation legacy even though at the time she didn't realize it.  "Although my Dad flies for Delta (originally Northwest Airlines and the reason the Delta CJO left her almost speechless)," she says, "I had no interest in flying.  It sounds silly saying it today, but I had never seen a female pilot.  All of Dad's friends were military and I was too much of a wimp to consider joining the military.  When I was researching universities and careers, he mentioned flying as an option and set me up with a flight lesson.  After that one lesson, I fell in love and never looked back." 
 
Aaron's story mirrors many of his fellow alumni when it comes to the origins of an interest in aviation.  "I am the only one in my family who went into aviation," he says.  "On vacations, I think I had more fun being at the airport than going to the actual destination.  When my family booked flights, I was kind of super nerdy and went searching for as much information about the planes we would be flying as I could." 
 
Their higher-education choice for where to pursue a career in the clouds shares some common ground.  "In-state tuition, baby," she says.  "How lucky am I that the world's best flight school happened to be in the state where I grew up."  "It was a no-brainer picking WMU," Aaron says.  "Having one of the best aviation programs basically in my backyard made the choice very easy.  There was the ability to be a part of an intimate program, where everybody knew each other, while enjoying the 'Big College' experience." 

Aaron posing during the campus tour of his future alma mater

For two of her academic years at Western, Katie logged time under the tutelage of Annie Quardokus, manager of aviation dispatch and scheduling.  She called being a college dispatcher "one of the best jobs I have had in aviation," and she's had quite a few. 
 
"I got to meet every single person in the COA," she says, "and to this day I have seen the positive effects of that, making friends with students, instructors, and the staff.  Today, when I walk through an airport and someone calls out, it is because they recognize me from the dispatch desk.  That's awesome."   
 
When the college's facility would shut down because of the air show at the Battle Creek airport, the dispatch team would be summoned by Quardokus for a "deep clean" of the dispatch area.  There would be five minutes of cleaning, and then venturing outside to watch the fighter jets practice before being recalled to dusting-and-mopping duty.  "Then, of course," she says, "was the annual dispatch party with Annie's famous buffalo-chicken dip.  I loved that job so much." 

Forging friendships and celebrating that Bronco pride at a WMU football game with Alex Sollner (left) and Paige Winkler

Husband Aaron spent an academic year as one of the college's aviation ambassadors.  "Maybe it's a biased opinion," he says, "but Tom Thinnes and the Department of Recruitment and Outreach was the best to work for.  Seeing students to whom I earlier gave tours was rewarding.  I loved sharing my passion for the school and the industry."  Hope there are no spousal squabbles about the best part of the College of Aviation -- Dispatch or Recruitment/Outreach. 
 
While Broncos, both affiliated with Western's chapter of Alpha Eta Rho, the international fraternity that connects the aviation industry with educational institutions to promote careers in aviation, in aeronautical engineering and in the aerospace sciences.  Aaron describes the benefits well.  "Networking, networking, networking," he says.  "It seems like a silly thing to remind someone of.  But being in this organization forces people out of their shells and gets them known in the industry. (Former Dean of the College of Aviation) Dave Powell said something that sticks with me today -- 'Sometimes it's not what you know, it's who you know.'"  The forged fraternal friendships are lifetime in nature. 

The Mohnkes and fellow WMU Aviation alumnus, Shaun Frederick, when all three were at SkyWest

WMU's Women in Aviation International chapter has Katie among its roster of members.  The organization's annual national conference "is an amazing event," she says.  "I always encourage others -- especially women -- to attend at least once.  I have done some amazing things with networking, met incredible people, and was exposed to job opportunities I didn't know existed.  I am still a member." 
 
One of those unknown "opportunities" could have been the Air Race Classic, the annual piloting competition for teams of female aviators, be they students, teachers, doctors, professionals or business owners of any age.  Spawned in 1929 with the likes of Amelia Earhart and once dubbed the Powder Puff Derby, the cross-country flight, which has different starting positions and destinations each year, is not a "who-gets-there-first" contest.  Each entered aircraft is handicapped for speed and engine power, and judged for course accuracy among other factors.  How did Katie describe her participation?  "The history is rich, the people are amazing, and it is just so flipping fun and exciting." 
 
Another factor in Katie's glowing review is her Air Race partner in the sky, double-major Bronco alumna Sara Karsten, who flies for Northern Jet Management in Grand Rapids and served as a certified flight instructor at the College of Aviation. "When I was struggling," Katie recalls, "Sara lifted me up.  She gave tough love but is the ultimate friend.  Everyone who has met her shares the same testimony.  She was one of the best instructors I had.  You spend months preparing for the Air Race and two weeks racing -- essentially living together.  I could not have done that with anyone else.  Sara is an amazing pilot, mechanic, and friend.  I can't wait for the day we can race again." 

The Mohnkes wedding picture

Flying a Cirrus SR-20 from the Bronco fleet in the late-June-of-2015 competition, the Katie-Sara team finished fifth among the 17-team collegiate division and 11th overall among all 54 entries.  The 2,200-mile flight and loop took them from Fredericksburg, Va., (of Civil War infamy) to Fairhope, Ala.  The Western duo was honored at the final banquet for clocking the fastest, most-efficient time on one of the legs of the race.  Three years later, the WMU entry won the race's collegiate division that attracted 20 teams of female fliers.  In 2021 in a Covid 19-modified competition, Western also earned the first-place trophy. 
 
Sharing top billing as Katie's favorite WMU instructor is Gail Rouscher.  Something of a Bosslady on the job, "Gail is brilliant, kind and genuine.  She truly cares about her students and is a wonderful teacher," Katie says.  "She was a boss-lady mechanic in the Navy and has a wall-full of degrees.  Gail loves volunteering her time to student organizations, including AWAM (Association for Women in Aviation Maintenance).  She was an enormous support for our Air Race Classic team.  The world would be a better place with more Gails in it." 
 
Aaron's favorite class was in advanced aircraft systems taught by Jeremy Hierholzer because he was exposed to the innards of jet engines and to the "more complex systems on heavier aircraft.  It prepared me well for learning about the planes I would be flying."  Aviation safety is at the top of Katie's class list.  "The lessons I learned from that class are very applicable," she says.  "Learning about mistakes others have made has made me a safer pilot." 

Katie and Aaron in Fort Myers, FL while working for Paragon Flight

Since leaving the brown-and-gold world of WMU, Katie has worn the colors of: Solo Aviation Inc., the fixed-base operator at the Ann Arbor Municipal Airport; as a certified flight instructor at Paragon Flight in Fort Myers, Fla., for people seeking commercial, recreational or military pilot training; four years flying for SkyWest Airlines, the regional air carrier based in St. George, Utah, that serves 250-plus destinations in North America and Mexico; Spirit Airlines, which has one of its hubs in Detroit; and now with "Daddy's" Delta, one of the "Big Daddies" in the industry -- 5,400 flights daily to 352 destinations in 52 countries on six continents. 
 
In all of these stops, Katie seeks to follow the advice of Capt. Tammie Jo Shults, one of the many speakers she has listened to at the Women in Aviation convention, and here it is: "Habits on a good day become instinct on a bad day.  Never stop learning.  Don't get lazy.  Keep it SOP (standard operating procedure)."  Shults’ advice comes from the “school of hard knocks.”  She is a former Southwest Airlines pilot who captained Southwest 1380, landing the plane after experiencing an unexpected engine failure and rapid depressurization. 
 
Aaron also made a Florida stop with Paragon Flight.  "The best part of that job was hanging out on the weekends with all the instructors and going to the beach," he says, before being hired by SkyWest in August of 2017 to fly out of its Detroit hub.  "Working at the regional level is a grind.  Many days are spent with 12 hours or more on duty.  But the people made every minute of that enjoyable.  Nothing better than having a crew that meshed together and enjoying overnights across the country."  Aaron's next Detroit-based move came in November of 2021 when he began boarding Spirit planes. 
 
Only in the SkyWest chapters of their resumes have they been at the same controls on the same airliner.  "I was able to fly with him at Skywest and it is an amazing memory that we have," Katie says.  "My long-term goal," Aaron says, "is to again fly with Katie as a crew.  We did it a couple of times at SkyWest and the goal is to do it again once we are both 'senior' again.  We see it as getting paid to go on vacation together." 

The Mohnkes in Sydney, Australia at a Koala Sanctuary

Katie's adventures have taken her to her grandmother's house in the Japanese countryside, to the Sydney Operations House in Australia, to life as it is lived in Guatemala City, to a hot-spring river and waterfall in New Zealand, to the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris, to the panoramic views near the Pellston Lodge at the northern top of Michigan's Lower Peninsula.  She strongly believes that others of her gender ilk -- a whole lot more -- should have the same opportunity. 
 
"I am passionate about bringing more women into the field," she says.  "We are 50 percent of the human population and 5 percent of the pilot population.  Of course, the schedule isn't easy.  Yet 75 percent of flight attendants are women, and they have the same schedule as pilots.  The job does not come without challenges, but it is rewarding -- and worth it." 
 
Well into a new millennium, one would hope things are changing.  But have they?   
 
"My challenges are no different from my female-pilot colleagues," she says.  "From off-handed comments, disrespect, discouragement, to even having grown men yell in my face, there is always going to be opposition to us existing.  But that is OK.  It is what makes this job equally rewarding.  I absolutely adore this job and the challenges have become smaller and smaller throughout the years."  Next in the great-memory book will be when her Delta-pilot father pins Delta wings on his daughter, the one who once never really considered a career defying gravity. 

Katie's last trip with SkyWest, flying with Captain Aaron

What is somewhat non-discriminatory is the fact, no matter one's gender as a pilot, early on in the career there are obstacles -- adjusting to a schedule, balancing a social life, finding time for family.  "However," she says, "the more 'senior' you get, the better it gets.  This has been a huge factor in motivating me to 'get to' the next step.  My life is constantly improving the more 'senior' I get and with every job improving my quality of life."  Spouse Aaron echos that perspective. 
 
Their years at Western gave them a fuselage full of memories -- tailgating at Bronco football games, the undefeated season when ESPN's College Game Day came to the Kalamazoo campus the day of the Buffalo tilt that almost guaranteed the team a Cotton Bowl bid, being part of the Lawson Lunatics to urge on victories for the Western skaters, and -- for Katie -- an occasional late-night sneak away from the dispatch desk with walkie-talkie in tow to truck around the rest of the aviation facility.  For both of them, the friends they made at Western are still cherished. 
 
But Western's best gift of all to Aaron Monhke and Katherine Vena was each other.  "We were just friends for the longest time," Aaron says.  "I'm pretty sure when we started dating all our friends said 'it's about time.  When's the wedding?'  Meeting the love of my life and doing this job together has been so much fun.  Strangers told us that being married as pilots would be difficult.  They were 100 percent wrong.  We get so much time off and we are seeing the world together." 

The Mohnke's wedding or a College of Aviation reunion?

When they are asked about the best path to take if aviation is a prime career choice, the WMU program is always the first thing to come out of their mouths.  "We truly believe it is the best flight school," Aaron says.  "When we came back to see the new education center, we were stunned.  Today's students are so lucky to have this state-of-the-art facility.  Even though Katie and I were here before the new building, it still feels like home.  And who knows?  You could also meet your future spouse here." 
 
Married in October of 2020 and residing in her home community of Canton, the Monhkes truly share a rare common bond in addition to their matrimonial status.  "Aaron hates that I am more senior to him everywhere we go," Katie says jokingly, "but I am lucky to have somebody who counts my success as our success. I love sharing this life with him.  He is the most amazing man.  I am blessed.  He is the best gift that aviation -- and WMU -- has given me. 
 
"Even if it means no one will ever know how to pronounce my last name for the rest of my life," she says.  No, Monhke is not like the Beatles-style rock group that had its own TV show in the 1970s. Nor is it code for the little Monhke currently incubating. The Monhkes will be adding a new addition to their aviation family – Baby Monhke is expected to land on August 11th!