Robert Ashby (Tuskegee Airman)

Robert Ashby (July 17, 1926 – March 5, 2021) was a U.S. Army Air Force/U.S. Air Force officer and pilot with the all-African American 332nd Fighter Group – Tuskegee Airmen. He was one of the 1007 documented Tuskegee Airmen Pilots.

Hired by Frontier Airlines in 1973, Ashby became one of the first few African Americans to work as a commercial airline pilot for a major commercial airline. During his new-hire training class at Frontier, Ashby trained with Emily Howell Warner, the first female ever to be promoted to airline captain at a major commercial airline.

Ashby was first and only Tuskegee Airmen to work as a commercial airline pilot captain with a major commercial U.S. airline.

On March 29, 2007, Ashby and the collective Tuskegee Airmen received the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian award presented by U.S. Congress.