A 22-year-old pilot shares how she shuts down sexist and ageist comments from people who claim she's too young to fly a plane

• Sabrina Johnson started flying when she was just 14 and has nine years of experience under her belt.
• Yet she still gets told by people on TikTok that she's not experienced enough to be trusted.

Sabrina Johnson was just 14 when she first experienced what flying was like. Her dad had set up a discovery flight for her — a lesson where people interested in becoming a pilot can be introduced to flying an aircraft.

"I always tell him that was the biggest mistake because that sent me down the rabbit hole of where I am now," Johnson, who now flies both airplanes and helicopters, told Insider. "I couldn't stop."

Johnson is now just 22 years old, and she has nine years of flying experience under her belt.

She's also a pilot for a major airline and documents her trips and provides advice for other aspiring pilots on her TikTok account, where she has 71,000 followers. (She doesn't reveal the name of the airline publicly, but says many people online have guessed it thanks to her uniform.)

But while Johnson believes she has the best job in the world, her visibility as a young woman in a male-dominated industry opens her up to criticism.

In real life, she is often mistaken for a flight attendant — even by other airport staff. On TikTok, while there is plenty of admiration, there are also people who say she's "not really flying the plane," or not experienced enough for the responsibility.

"They say 'I wouldn't trust you to fly a plane' all the time," Johnson said. "And I'm like, Hey, I wouldn't trust you to be on my plane."

Johnson primarily flies a Embraer ERJ 175, which is a 76 passenger jet, and flies routes within the US, Mexico, and Canada. Her farthest journey is from Chicago to Monterrey, Mexico, which is around 3 and a half hours.

"My favorite part of flying in general is the sights," Johnson said, who shows some of this on her TikTok, including an exclusive look out of the pilot's bathroom window. "On the cloudiest day I pop above the clouds and see the sun and the sunset. You just can't beat the sights."

It's also hard to top the benefits, she added. Johnson can get free travel almost any time she wants it — she's just required to pay the taxes on the ticket.

"It's like vacation 24/7, it's awesome," she said.

Only around 9.5% of all pilots are women, according to data from the Pilot Institute, so Johnson has struggled with finding female role models in the space when she first started. But a few years in, she's built "a strong community" of other female pilots that have each others' backs.

She also hopes to inspire young women to joining the aviation industry by posting educational videos about her own training, what it takes to become a pilot, and realistic day in the life vlogs of what to expect.

Looking back, Johnson knew she wanted to be a pilot from the moment she started her first flying lesson, and realized she wouldn't ever want any other job.

"I could make my job flying an airplane," she said. "I just think that that's the coolest thing."