Writer

Amy Laboda

Continuing its growth streak, the annual International Women in Aviation Conference once again set records for being one of the largest, most diverse networking, mentoring and, now, hiring events in U.S. aviation. Almost 5,000 people attended the four-day convention in Nashville, Tenn., last month, and a little more than 2,000 of those participated in one-on-one interviews with charter and crew management companies, aerospace manufacturers, MROs and airlines.

 


“This is our 27th annual International Women in Aviation conference,” Women in Aviation International (WAI) president and co-founder Peggy Chabrian told AIN. “My most exciting moment of this conference was when the Martha King CFI Scholarship winner took us over the $10 million mark for scholarships awarded. It is amazing, considering that our aviation and aerospace scholarship program is just 20 years old.” Chabrian pointed out that WAI membership now stands at 13,000 and growing, with members in 63 countries around the world. WAI has 102 local chapters that provide communities all over the world with education and hands-on outreach about careers in aviation. It announced its first virtual chapter through Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Worldwide campus.

 


The four-day conference comprised a well organized job fair, IA Recurrency program, AOPA Rusty Pilots seminar, tours of local aviation sites, including the Beech Heritage Museum, and more than 40 educational sessions that encompassed topics as broad as corporate aviation and airline careers panels to practical flying tips, upset training and ADS-B. A “Girls in Aviation” youth outreach and Pioneer Hall of Fame induction ceremony capped a busy 96 hours for conference attendees.

 


“We have people coming here from all segments of the aviation industry,” said Chabrian. “A lot of senior executives from industry are here mixing in with mid-level managers and front-line workers. On the other hand, we’ve got university students right down to grade-school students learning about aviation through our girls in aviation program,” she said.

 


Among the first-time attendees this year were Faye Malarkey Black, president of the Regional Airline Association, and regional airline CEOs Linda Markham with Cape Air &amp; Nantucket Airlines and Air Wisconsin’s Christine Deister. General session speakers included FAA Administrator Michael Huerta and Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James, both of whom spoke about efforts to keep their workforces diverse and free from issues surrounding sexual harassment. &nbsp;

 


<h2>Corporate Aviation Representation Increases</h2>

 


The WAI exhibit hall opened with 170 exhibitors, including universities, flight schools, aircraft, engine and pilot accessories manufacturers, as well as airlines and business aviation crew and aircraft management companies. The number of business aviation exhibitors was higher this year than last, and companies were doing more than recruiting; they were hiring.

 


A few first-time exhibitors were startled by the number of men, as well as women, who peppered them with questions about employment requirements and offered résumés. Several companies noted that they were working hard to explain to potential hires the benefits of a career flying corporate, versus the airline represented two booths away. That said, Lysa Wiederman, human resources director for JetSelect Aviation, based in Columbus, Ohio, told AIN that her recruiter spoke with roughly two dozen candidates, among whom there were definitely potential hires.

 


XOJet pilot Caroline Brozovich, based in Henderson, Nev., said, “More than half of our group is here at WAI doing formal interviews for dispatch, customer service, international planning and flight crew hires. I got my job flying the Citation X at WAI last year. I wanted to return to give back this year.”

 


Denise Wilson, president and CEO of Desert Jet, a private jet charter and management, maintenance and FBO company based in Palm Springs, Calif., was more pragmatic. “Honestly, there was a moment when I saw the waves of guys in dark suits here for the Fast Pass program; but we were still able to find quality female candidates here,” Wilson said. “The thing is, gender isn’t the real challenge for us here. Looking around the room, it initially feels like this is a very airline-oriented event. That meant it was more challenging for us to pull the job candidates in,” she said. One way her company is competing is by offering a university student internship so that students are able to learn about the benefits of business aviation–and that there is an alternative to the airlines.

 


“Since we’ve been here we’ve spoken to probably 200 university students who are interested in our internship. But here is the thing: they have not been learning about business aviation in their professional aviator programs at school. That’s shocking to me. The schools are really pushing the direct-entry track into the airlines, and there doesn’t seem to be a business aviation track. I do think it would be helpful if we had the support of a national organization such as WAI or NBAA to help get the word out to these universities one-on-one that business aviation is a great career,” she continued.

 


Did Wilson find the new hires she needed at WAI? “I definitely found my three college interns here. I think I’ve found a new staff accountant and a new administrative assistant, and I’m pretty sure I’ve found our next four or five pilots at this event, and two fully qualified maintenance technicians, along with two apprentice-level mechanics,” she said.

 


The Association for Women in Aviation Maintenance (AWAM), which conducted the IA Recurrency program, was well represented at the conference. Lynette Ashland, president of AWAM, is chief of maintenance with Voyager Aviation in Cincinnati, Ohio, and an adjunct professor in Cincinnati State Technical College’s aviation maintenance program. She’s seen some significant changes in her 30-year career in business aviation maintenance, but she still doesn’t see a lot of women coming into the profession.

 


“I’m at a level in my career where I can give back, and that is why I’m here mentoring others–men or women,” she explained. “I had plenty of men who supported me in my career, pushing me to go as far as I could. We need more maintenance techs.” Along with mentoring, AWAM awarded maintenance scholarships with cash values totaling $200,000 at the event to more than a dozen of its members.

 


Sister organization Women in Corporate Aviation (WCA) awarded $7,000 in scholarships to four of its members. Outgoing WCA president Stacey Kotrla told AIN that this year the organization is on track to best last year’s $100,000 in scholarship opportunities for its members. The WCA is accepting applications now for fall scholarships, and those will be awarded at the NBAA Convention in November.

 


<h2>Education Sessions plus Hiring</h2>

 


Nearly half the WAI attendees used the conference as an opportunity to interview for jobs through WAI’s Fast Pass program, which enabled those who pre-registered the chance for an individual, private interview with human resources representatives from up to three companies. Priority was given in order of WAI member number and registration date, ensuring that longstanding members who registered for the program early could choose interviews and timeslots they preferred. Some 5,000 Fast Passes were issued, keeping the companies participating busy for three days mining a deep lode of diverse talent to solve maintenance, operations and flight crew staffing issues.

 


There was some controversy over the ratio of women to men who participated in the hiring event, most of it raised by inaccurate numbers publicized by CBS News in a story about women in aviation that referenced the conference.

 


WAI president Chabrian addressed the issue, saying, “When CBS News asked us for a count it was Thursday afternoon and they took a one-day number for the Fast Pass system as the total; it was not accurate. In fact nearly 400 women and 1,700 men participated in the formal hiring portion of our event. That means the participants were roughly 20 percent female, if you think about it. Where else in the industry would companies have the opportunity to interview that many women at one time for maintenance, operations or flight-deck positions?”

 


Referring to the conference in general, she said, “Look around the exhibit hall and at our speakers. Every aspect of aviation, government or civilian, national or international is represented here, and by as diverse a population of people as you are going to find anywhere.”

 


<h2>New Ideas for Building Pilot Ranks</h2>

 


JetBlue Airways, no stranger to innovation in pilot recruitment, took advantage of the WAI conference timing to announce a new path to the right seat at the airline, its Gateway Select pilot training program. Modeled after Lufthansa’s pilot cadet program in structure, the $125,000 pilot training program will matriculate its first 24 cadets in August.

 


“It is a lot of money, but it is fair as compared to other complete pilot training programs,” said Warren Christie, JetBlue Airways senior vice president for safety, security and training. “We think our Gateway Select is the only program that at the end has a major airline job offer. And successful cadets will be paid to work at CAE as flight instructors as part of the program.” Christie said that the company is partnering with both the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals (OBAP) and WAI to help get the word out about the new path to the cockpit, as well as working with banking partners to come up with financing.&nbsp;

 


<h2>New WAI Board Members and Chairman</h2>

 


WAI experienced a major board of directors refresh at this year’s conference. Outgoing chairman of the board, Amy Corbett, FAA regional administrator for New England, explained that nine-year term limits were designed to keep the board vibrant and active. The incoming board chair is Karen Gebhart, vice president of development for the Helicopter Association International (HAI). New to the board of directors this year are Lauren McFarland, director of advertising for the Aircraft Electronics Association; and Linda Markham, president and CEO of regional airline Cape Air &amp; Nantucket Airlines.

 


<h2>Finding Tomorrow’s Aviators</h2>

 


WAI’s youth outreach, Girls in Aviation Day, continued with a one-day event in Nashville the last day of the conference. Nearly 300 girls got the chance to play at aviation through a dozen fun, aviation-inspired hands-on activities, meeting with role models, including Dr. Rhea Seddon, astronaut, physician and author of Go for Lift-off; and Liz Clark, who flies a Global Express with FedEx Corporate. AWAM members helped girls craft wire bracelets with aircraft tools, and Coast Guard fliers and flight instructors coached them on PC flight simulators, among other hands-on activities.

 


This year WAI created a Girl Scout fun patch depicting an airplane with “Aviation Girl” on it for those who participated.

 


<h2>A Scholarship Clearinghouse for Aviation</h2>

 


WAI’s prolific program is a clearinghouse for scholarships it solicits each year from individuals, corporations and other aviation entities, according to Chabrian. “WAI makes it simple to create, fund [in escrow], publicize and then process applicants for its benefactors’ various awards. The result is that 1,400 individuals have received scholarships from 100-plus individuals and companies through the program since 1995,” she said. This year alone the organization and its members awarded 114 individuals, both women and men, nearly $700,000 in training, scholarships and internships crossing the spectrum of aviation and aerospace vocations.

 


<h2>The Future</h2>

 


WAI’s next event will be WomenVenture, a one-day event held in conjunction with EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wis., this July. The organization is holding a regional conference in Seattle, Wash., on September 16 and 17 and WAI’s global “Girls in Aviation Day” will happen on September 24. Next year’s International Women in Aviation Conference is slated for March 2-4 at Walt Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

 


<h2>Honoring the Past</h2>

 


More than 200 of aviation’s high-achieving women have been inducted into WAI’s Pioneer Hall of Fame since the tradition began in 1992. This year’s inductees were British pilot Amy Johnson; the U.S. Navy’s first African-American female pilot, Brenda Robinson; USAF Gen. Janet C. Wolfenbarger; and the women of U.S. Air Force Undergraduate Pilot Training Class 77-08.