From singing melodies to piloting aircraft, Janah Zaplan is spreading her wings and chasing all her dreams full-throttle.
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We know about young professionals pursuing a creative career while also having a corporate day job, musicians with side hustles, or artists with a business. Whether it’s to make a living or because they want to live out all their dreams, balancing it all takes a lot of will and guts. For one singer and recently-graduated student pilot, her love for what she does and the support she gets from her loved ones push her to remain steadfast in her pursuits amidst the turbulence of life.
Following in her former finishing aircraft mechanic dad’s footsteps contrails, Janah Zaplan pursued her dreams of flying after growing up traveling the world with her family, leading to her getting a degree in Aviation, Major in Flying from the Air Link International Aviation College.
A Star Pop music artist, the 22-year-old has a few songs under her belt, such as Himbing and I LUV U. In the last few years, Janah’s hands have been busy with microphones and control sticks, studying to become a pilot in a four-year degree program with both theoretical and practical learning opportunities as she also furthers her music career.
Janah graduated from the aviation college as cum laude earlier this year, her Latin honor a secret from her parents until the ceremony. It was an emotional moment for them all, she admitted, but they were proud of all she’s accomplished.
Though she’s not quite achieved her ultimate goal of being a commercial airline pilot, yet, Janah’s ready to take on the world and live her dreams, come what may. Get to know the artist and pilot below.
SOARING TO NEW HEIGHTS WITH JANAH ZAPLAN
Congratulations on all your success, Janah! To start things off, what inspired you to pursue both music and a career in flying?
Actually, my career in music started way, way back, 2018 when I entered the music industry. But I really started very, very young because of my parents. They supported me throughout my journey from lining up for queues to get in TV shows or TV competitions to helping me with school competitions, just to showcase my talent that they saw in me, which eventually turned out into a career path that I’m following right now.
And then when it comes to my aviation career, into a career path that I am having right now, it actually just started when we started traveling. And I saw those pilots making the airport their runway, and I feel like I wanted to become like them. They looked so posh, so clean, so sleek.
I was just so fascinated by how airplanes really fly. I was so curious as to how it could carry around so many passengers and how it can go from point A to point B in just how many miles. So ever since then, I started talking to my parents about it, and they were very supportive. I’m lucky enough to have parents like them who are actually capable of letting me study such a course.
With regard to balancing it all, you’re pursuing two pretty different career trajectories. And now that you’ve graduated, you’re going to be busier in both aspects. How do you think you’ll be able to manage or balance it all?
Just like during my studies, I was very lucky enough to have a management who understands my dreams. So whenever I fly, they take the time to wait for me. I usually stay in Lubang in Mindoro—that’s where we fly—I usually stay there for a month or more, so they wait for me. Kapag may event during that time, hindi nila ako kukulitin. But when I come home to Manila, that’s when mall shows start coming up, guestings, front acts, lahat ng mga pwede kong gawin to promote my songs. It’s been working for us, and I think that’s how I’m gonna do it [moving forward].
With regard to my aviation career, I will continue my training, my studies pa rin. Kasi hindi talaga siya madali. I actually thought na ang pagiging piloto, ganun-ganun lang, but no, it takes time. It takes a lot of effort, courage, and training, because there are a lot of rejections, failures, and mistakes, so I just have to keep moving forward and motivate myself to reach my goal hopefully in the future—which is to become an airline pilot.
With your aviation studies, what are some of the hardest things that you had to learn?
It’s not just that you have to be mentally ready. You also need to be fit, you need to be emotionally stable because there are a lot of factors in becoming a pilot. You have to sleep well, you have to know that you’re fit to fly.
Was there any judgment in terms of you being a girl?
I’m actually glad that I wasn’t able to experience such. Everybody was open in my school and they’re very supportive with girls flying. During my first year, I flew the bigger training aircraft than what they usually fly. So, they’re like, ‘pinili mo yan!’, but in a joking way. You just need to be used to carrying that heavy aircraft with you just being so small. At the end of the day, as long as you’re able to achieve your purpose, your goal, you’re already a good pilot.
Any other hardships you had to overcome?
I think what was really hard wasn’t the flight training—it’s more of the theoretical stuff that we really needed to learn, because flying is [relatively] easy. Even a gamer could probably fly a plane, but what makes it hard are the factors surrounding it like weather, air laws, and a lot more subjects you have to take. I think ‘yun yung pinakamahirap for me, especially since I was studying during the pandemic. I had to take some of my subjects online, and it wasn’t that easy to grasp because we were just seeing it on screen, we weren’t actually experiencing it.
Do you have any bucket list destinations you want to fly to?
I have a lot! If dreaming big lang talaga, my dream destination is South Africa. And also Iceland, Finland, anywhere with an aurora borealis!
I was thinking about how unique your experience is as an artist and a pilot. In your life, if you’ve ever felt like giving either one up or focus on one instead, what pushed you to keep doing both?
When I was having a hard time during my studies, I kind of thought about taking a break in the music industry. Pero what really motivated me not to give it up was the love and support that my parents and management gave—and also the fans who have been with me since way back in 2018 na talagang sumuporta sakin. They keep telling me, ‘ano na, may bago ka na bang kanta? What’s new with you? Meron ka bang gig? Meron ka bang ganyan?’. So I feel the love and care and support from the people around me, and that’s what pushed me to keep going and keep doing both.
That’s wonderful! I think also that the notion of having to give either one up stems from people thinking that people can only have like one dream, when that’s really really not the case. Especially if it’s two things that you can balance, like being a creative and then also pursuing something like aviation. What would you say to people who think they should only choose one dream or pursue one path?
Keep on trying to pursue those dreams of yours, and if you fail, that’s fine! If you succeed, that’s better. But just try to enjoy life while trying to reach what your goal is and enjoy that journey that you’re taking, because through it all, you’ll have lessons, experiences you can never forget, and failures that will really make you better as a person. I feel like you get to be more of yourself once you’re actually able to do what you love.
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