Traniela Campolieto
Traniela Carle Campolieto | |
|---|---|
| Born | Argentina |
| Occupation(s) | Aviator, personal trainer, fitness competitor |
| Years active | 1999–present |
| Known for | First transgender woman pilot in command for an airline in Argentina and Latin America; pilot of Airbus A330-200 for Aerolíneas Argentinas |
Traniela Carle Campolieto is an Argentine aviator distinguished as the pioneering transgender woman to hold the position of pilot in command for an airline in both Argentina and Latin America. Since 1999, she has been employed by the national flag carrier Aerolíneas Argentinas, where she pilots the Airbus A330-200, the fleet's largest aircraft. Prior to her commercial aviation career, she gained experience in both general aviation and military aviation, attaining the rank of second lieutenant within the Argentine Army.
At age 48, in 2023, Campolieto publicly revealed her transgender identity and subsequently captained her inaugural international flight under her updated legal gender on May 24 of that year. This achievement significantly enhanced her prominence in Argentine social circles and mainstream media outlets. In addition to her aviation career, she is active as a personal trainer and participates in fitness competitor events.
Life and career
Before her gender transition, Traniela Carle Campolieto built a 33-year tenure in aviation under her birth name, Carlos Daniel. Her enthusiasm for flying emerged early on, leading her to enroll at the National Institute of Civil Aviation (INAC) followed by training at the Glider School located in Cañuelas, Buenos Aires. By age 18, she had earned a glider pilot license and progressed from general aviation into military service by joining the Argentine Army, where she completed officer training and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. At 23 years old, she entered Aerolíneas Argentinas as a co-pilot on the Boeing 737 beginning in 1999.
Campolieto has been married for 18 years to a cisgender woman, with whom she shares three daughters. Prior to transitioning, she identified as bigender and engaged in crossdressing, presenting publicly as male while privately embracing her female identity. After a year of preparation due to concerns about potential personal and professional repercussions, she came out in 2023 and legally amended her documents with Aerolíneas Argentinas to reflect her new name, Traniela—a name intentionally chosen to signify "transgender." Her transition received positive acceptance from both her family and employer; within the airline, she became involved with the gender secretariat and union advocacy groups. On May 24, 2023, she led her first international flight from Buenos Aires to Miami, an event that garnered extensive media coverage.
Towards the end of 2024, amidst labor disputes over wages and governmental attempts under Javier Milei's administration to privatize Aerolíneas Argentinas, Campolieto openly opposed privatization efforts. She cautioned that such actions could replicate the detrimental dismantling experienced following the privatizations of the 1990s. She advocated for internal funding of essential but unprofitable routes instead of relying on state subsidies. Furthermore, Campolieto expressed ambitions to assume the role of CEO and sought a meeting with President Milei to discuss these matters. She maintains a social media presence with over 132,000 followers on Instagram and was one of fourteen influencers implicated in legal proceedings concerning promotion of unauthorized online gambling platforms amid concerns about underage gambling.