Unifi's Black History Month Spotlight: Tynaia Pittman

“Mary McLeod Bethune, George Washington Carver, Garrett Morgan, C.J. Walker,” the list of notable Black Americans rolls off Tynaia Pittman’s tongue with admiration and ease. “People who are innovators, creators, and people of faith are all I admire,” she says. Pittman has been a Delta gate agent since August 2009 in Minneapolis.

“What I love about my job, other than the ability to travel, is that I’ve had the pleasure of interacting with lots of people from other cultures,” says Pittman. “Even when there have been moments where a passenger or someone else said something negative or ignorant, I always view it as a teachable moment and more often than not I learned that people just didn’t know that they way they were saying or asking something was problematic.”

Living and working in a city as diverse as Minneapolis is also something Pittman counts as a benefit. “Most of my coworkers have been other black women, and I take comfort in coming to work and seeing others who look like me. There is silent compassion as you interact with each other.”

That sense of belonging and compassion has become especially important in the last few years. “When George Floyd happened here, it brought to the surface the trauma that people of color feel, but people were coming through the airport and they would say they were praying for us and hoping justice would prevail. It offered us comfort.”

Pittman says that when such painful acts of racism or violence occur, representation is more important than ever. She hopes to see more Black people in leadership roles at the airport and within the industry.

“When we don’t have people that look like us in leadership, it magnifies the stress, trauma, and worry,” says Pittman. “Representation matters – we need to look like the customers we serve, and if we don’t – we do a disservice to them.”