“Everyone has something to teach you, so always be curious and always be kind.”

 

Lauren Hanna is a wife, mother, friend and artist. Lauren is also a trailblazer: a girl who learned to fly a plane as a preteen, worked her way up in aviation as a safety expert, and today is an executive at GE Aerospace, the world’s largest jet-engine manufacturer.

Lauren was born and raised in Geneva, Ohio. A family trip to NASA in Cleveland and a week at space camp in Florida cinched Lauren’s path. She wanted to be an astronaut, but recognizing the challenges, Lauren pivoted to aviation.

“I knew early on I wanted to be a pilot. I love to fly,” said Lauren. Family friends owned a plane and Lauren learned to fly on family outings up in the air. Lauren could operate a plane by the time she was 12 years old.

Since both of her parents went to Louisiana Tech University, known for its aviation program, Lauren followed, majoring in aviation and business. She had all of her pilot ratings when she arrived to college.

After graduation, Lauren experienced a few setbacks, one being a car accident that caused her to lose her FAA first class medical certificate, permanently grounding her from flying.

Moving back to Ohio, Lauren moved in with her beloved sister, Alison, where she worked as a dispatcher during the day at NetJets, a private jet travel company, and waited tables at night. At NetJets, she met pilot Bill Hanna, and the two eventually tied the knot, welcoming a son, Drew. Bill was hired at Southwest Airlines and the family transferred to Phoenix where Bryce was born. Lauren went to work as an analyst at Flight Data Services, a monitoring service to improve safety for airlines and pilots.

“You take all of the data that is recorded on an aircraft, like weather and crew pairings, and combine the data with operational data and look for trends,” said Lauren. The company, with Lauren’s guidance, was developing software that received and analyzed customer feedback for quality management and product improvements.

“The software captured the market; our customers loved it,” shared Lauren, who would pitch the software to industry executives.

What followed was a lengthy corporate buyout of the company, instilling in Lauren the knowledge that relationships and customer service are key.

In 2012, Bill’s job moved the family to Colorado, to The Village at Castle Pines.

In 2020, Lauren was hired as the director of aviation solutions and sales for GE Aerospace. She was quickly promoted to the commercial general manager for America.

As the only female general manager, Lauren oversaw operations, sales, customers and solutions architects. “The business was losing money but by the time I was 18 months in, we were profitable,” Lauren shared.

In 2025, Lauren was tapped again to step into a higher role working with GE’s chief engineer of aerospace. Today, she is running GE’s industry safety teams to reassess and ensure safety protocols and processes are put in place.

“How do we learn from the industry? How do we increase and improve our safety practices? By looking externally and learning from others,” explained Lauren.

Aviation continues in the Hanna family blood. Drew (22) is a senior at Purdue University majoring in unmanned aerial systems and Bryce (18) is a senior at Rock Canyon High School who completed the aviation course at the Douglas County School District’s Legacy Campus.

In 2024, the Hannas moved into their dream house they built in the Village, with stunning, cliffside views overlooking southwest Castle Rock. They have an English bulldog, Macy and a French bulldog, Ozzy.

Lauren also sits on the boards of the Flight Safety Foundation and the National Business Aviation Association; but when she is not working, she paints and takes photos, mostly of landscapes.

To those coming up in their careers, Lauren offered, “Everyone has something to teach you, so always be curious and always be kind.”

 

By Hollen Wheeler; photos courtesy of Lauren Hanna