We are officially in October which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month in many areas around the world. In honor of women and in an effort to spread awareness, we are dedicating this post to women everywhere and highlighting women in aviation!

Starting with Women in Aviation (WAI) which is an organization dedicated to providing networking, educating, mentoring, and scholarship opportunities for women who are striving for careers in aviation. In case you missed it, September 25th was their “Girls in Aviation Day” and they recognized it as they usually do. Many organizations around the world find ways to honor and elevate women in the aviation industry.

Another great event includes the “Hangar Fiesta,” a fundraiser for the new Women in Aviation Rio Grande Valley Chapter. At this event children were taken on rides in small planes to introduce them to flying. According to Utahbussiness.com, in 1960, only 1 in 21,417 women held an “other-than-student” pilot certificate, by 1980 that number was 1 in 4,224, the best it has ever been. As of 2010, the gap had widened and only 5.39 percent of pilots were female. Today, only 16 percent of people working in the aircraft, spacecraft and manufacturing industry are female.

Women have made great strides in an industry that was mainly dominated by men for many years. Apart from the cabin crew, women were not popular as pilots, engineers, or have a stance in many other careers in the aviation industry. Now they are taking sharing the space in all areas and we think the aviation industry is lucky to have them!

Sources:

https://www.wai.org/

http://www.valleymorningstar.com/news/local_news/article_ea0ff62c-6582-11e5-a10f-9bcb44e9f7bf.html