Most people don't expect the woman flying their regional jet to also be a national titleholder. But for Southlake native Amanda Higginbotham, the two roles go hand in hand.
On Saturday, June 20, Higginbotham was crowned Miss Volunteer America 2027 at the Carl Perkins Civic Center in Jackson, Tennessee, representing Texas against titleholders from across the country. The competition, now in its fifth year, judges contestants across four categories — a 10-minute interview, talent, evening gown, and fitness/wellness — along with an onstage question for the top five finalists.
By day, Higginbotham is a first officer at SkyWest Airlines, the country's largest regional carrier, flying routes on behalf of American, United, Delta, and Alaska. She holds an Airline Transport Pilot certificate, the highest level of pilot licensing, and has earned the callsign "Silk" among colleagues for her smooth landings. It's a career she's pursued since childhood, and one she says she hopes will show young girls that the sky — literally — is not the limit.
For the talent portion of competition, Higginbotham performed a "Classical Mashup" on piano, blending Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik, Chopin's Fantaisie-Impromptu, Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee, and the third movement of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata.
Her win comes with a $50,000 scholarship toward a master's degree, along with new national roles: Higginbotham now serves as an official liaison to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and a national ambassador for The Salvation Army, two of the Miss Volunteer America organization's partner charities. She was also named the competition's Top Fundraiser for St. Jude, having raised more than $26,000 for the hospital over the past year — part of an organization-wide total exceeding $300,000 raised for St. Jude this year alone.
Higginbotham has logged more than 200 volunteer hours in the past year, including 102 with The Salvation Army, and will serve as Social Chair for the Dallas–Fort Worth St. Jude Walk on September 19.
Between her flight schedule and her new title, Higginbotham says she hopes to prove that ambition and femininity aren't mutually exclusive — that a woman can land a plane in a flight suit one day and walk a runway in an evening gown the next. As she puts it: crowns are best paired with rolled-up sleeves.