After the death of her husband, Anderson pursued a career in flying. In 1978, she applied to several airlines after she had earned the necessary FLIGHT certificates without success. In order to increase her odds of being hired, Anderson then enrolled in the B-727 FLIGHT engineer’s school. In 1979, she was hired by North West Orient Airlines. She was the second female pilot they had hired. She served numerous positions, including Fleet Check Captain, Chief Pilot at the Minneapolis/ St. Paul crew base, and Captain flying a Boeing 747-400.