Jeff Bezos' fiancé Lauren Sanchez will be honoured with her own 'Living Legends of Aviation' award at glitzy bash where Prince Harry is getting inducted - the latest famous pilots to be feted including Harrison Ford and Tom Cruise
- Sanchez will receive the Elling Halvorson Vertical Flight Hall of Fame Award
Television anchor turned helicopter pilot Lauren Sanchez will be honored at this year's 21st Annual Living Legends of Aviation Awards.
Sanchez, the fiancé of Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, got her pilot's license over a decade ago and is now being celebrated alongside several aerospace icons including Harrison Ford and Tom Cruise.
The Living Legends of Aviation is bestowing her with its highest honor for vertical flight, the Elling Halvorson Vertical Flight Hall of Fame Award.
She will be inducted next Friday alongside Fred George, Steve Hinton and Prince Harry at glitzy bash in Beverly Hills, California hosted by John Travolta.
Sanchez, the founder of aerial film company Black Ops Aviation, has been hailed by the awards as a 'role model' and 'true inspiration' for women in the aviation industry.
Television anchor turned helicopter pilot Lauren Sanchez will be honored at this year's 21st Annual Living Legends of Aviation Awards. She is pictured in a helicopter
Sanchez, the fiancé of Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos , got her pilot's license over a decade ago and is now being celebrated alongside several aerospace icons. She is pictured in a chopper
The event - produced by nonprofit organization Kiddie Hawk Air Academy - commemorates 'remarkable people of extraordinary accomplishment in aviation'. The Living Legends of Aviation is celebrating Sanchez (pictured outside a helicopter) for her achievements in both business and aviation.
The event - produced by nonprofit organization Kiddie Hawk Air Academy - commemorates 'remarkable people of extraordinary accomplishment in aviation' - and the 'Legends' meet annually to honor new industry leaders.
The Living Legends of Aviation is celebrating Sanchez for her achievements in both business and aviation.
'Lauren is a role model and true inspiration for so many women in aviation,' said Stacey Elsner, acting Executive Director of the Living Legends of Aviation.
'She actively engages in many facets of the vertical flight industry, from licensed pilot to businesswoman, and uses her platform to encourage young women and girls to find their place within the industry.'
Other 2024 inductees include Fred George, Steve Hinton and Marc Parent. The honorees are Mark Burns, Laurans A. Mendelson, Kyle Clark, Linden S. Blue, Lance Toland and Prince Harry.
The awards have highlighted the Duke of Sussex's efforts as a 'humanitarian, mental wellness advocate, and environmentalist', touching on his work with Travalyst, Sentebale, African Parks, WellChild, BetterUp the Aspen Institute Commission on Information Disorder - and The Archewell Foundation.
It also praised the Duke's 'compassion, vulnerability, and unflinching honesty' in his memoir Spare.
The Living Legends of Aviation is bestowing Sanchez, pictured with her dog, with its highest honor for vertical flight - the Elling Halvorson Vertical Flight Hall of Fame Award
It is understood that Sanchez's love for flying was inspired by her father a former commercial pilot, airplane mechanic and flight instructor, who still flies today. Sanchez is pictured attending the Horsemen Flight Team Event on May 3, 2014 in Chino, California
Prince Harry's work as a British Army veteran and pilot will also be honored at this year's 21st Annual Living Legends of Aviation Awards. The Duke of Sussex is pictured in 2012 at Camp Bastion in southern Afghanistan
Sanchez's career kicked off in the news and entertainment industry after she moved to Los Angeles for college, attending the University of Southern California on scholarship.
After graduation she landed gigs as a television host in Los Angeles, appearing on shows such as Extra, Showbiz Tonight, Fox 11 and Good Day LA.
She also made a number of appearances on the big screen, portraying a news anchor for movies including White House Down, Ted 2, and We Bought A Zoo.
But even as her hosting career flourished, Sanchez discovered she was happiest behind the camera - and above the ground.
She started flying planes in 2011, working hard to pass her flight studies despite her struggles with dyslexia. By 2016 Sanchez had launched Black Ops Aviation, one of the first female-owned and operated aerial film and production companies.
'I had my job, I had a career, and then I found a calling,' she told The Hollywood Reporter in 2017.
'I loved entertainment and I loved filming, and so I got to combine all of it. Only six percent of pilots are women, and there's even less in the film industry. So I was like, I want to film movies, that's what I want to do.'
Sanchez served as a consultant for Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk (2017) and most recently worked as an aerial producer for Miss Bala (2019), starring Gina Rodriguez.
'I'm living my dream,' Sanchez told Extra in 2018. 'Everyone says, follow your passion. I loved being on camera and now I still have a camera, it's just 3,000 feet in the air.'
It is understood that her love for flying was inspired by her father a former commercial pilot, airplane mechanic and flight instructor, who still flies today.
Sanchez, pictured in a photo from her Instagram, has a fierce passion for flying - something she once referred to as her 'calling'
Lauren Sanchez is pictured on Good Day LA in June 2011
Sanchez, who grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, had always dreamt of being a journalist, but because she suffered from undiagnosed dyslexia throughout her childhood, she began to believe that she couldn't do it.
Instead, she decided she wanted to become a flight attendant, and at age 18 she applied for a job as a Southwest Airlines stewardess.
However, the then-teenager, who weighed just over 120 pounds, was forced to stand on a scale during the process - a standard practice for stewardesses at the time - and she ultimately didn't get the job because she was told she was too big.
'Back then, they weighed you, and I weighed 121 pounds. They said, "You need to be 115,"' she told the Wall Street Journal last year.
Devastated and ensure of where to turn, Sanchez decided to go to back to school and enrolled at El Camino College in Torrance, California.
It was there that she rediscovered her love for journalism, after a teacher encouraged her to get tested for a learning disability and she finally realized that she was suffering from dyslexia.
'It changed my life. I went from barely a 2.0 student to the dean’s list and got a scholarship to USC,' she recalled.
Sanchez transferred to University of Southern California in 1992, where she attended for two years while working as a desk assistant at the LA-based news company KCOP-TV.
Sanchez went on to host Good Day LA for six years, before starting Black Ops Aviation. She has since revealed she has a fierce passion for flying - something she once referred to as her 'calling.'
And according to the journalist, her and Bezos' romance blossomed, in part, because of their shared love of being in the air.
According to Sanchez, her and Bezos' romance blossomed, in part, because of their shared love of being in the air. The couple are pictured together at the Baby2Baby Gala at the Pacific Design Center on Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021 in West Hollywood, California
While it's unclear when exactly they started dating, Sanchez and Bezos' romance was exposed by the National Enquirer in January 2019, while they were both married to other people.
Soon after, the billionaire businessman divorced his wife-of-over-25-years and the mother of his four children, Mackenzie Scott.
Bezos - who is the third richest man in the world and has a reported net worth of about $170billion - and Sanchez then made their first public appearance together in May of that year, and have been happily in love ever since.
Sanchez now focuses much of her time on philanthropy - as well as her recently formed production company, Adventure & Fellowship.
Last year, the company produced its first indie film called The Golden Door, a psychological thriller starring Daniella Kertesz and and Chris Rock's ex-love Megalyn Echikunwoke.
She also released her first children's book called Flynn, The Fly Who Flew, in 2023.
Sanchez was also understood to be planning an all-female mission to outer space on Bezos' aerospace manufacturer company Blue Origin with hopes of taking flight sometime in 2024.
