<p>Dr Peggy Chabrian might have announced her plans to hand over the reins of Women in Aviation International (WAI), which she founded in 1990, but it doesn’t look like there will be any slowing down in her last six months as president and CEO. Only last week, she was leading WAI’s annual Girls in Aviation Day events, which took take place in 17 countries.</p>
<p><img alt="Peggy Chabrian" src="/getasset/e31d9f50-e881-4119-9af5-680414093db7/" /></p>
<p>Having founded WAI and been its guiding light, Chabrian is perfectly placed to observe the degree of change for women in aviation – the numbers involved, the way women are treated and much more. To give an idea of the numbers, WAI’s first conference in 1990 had 150 participants. Now the event attracts more than 4,800 attendees. Also, although it began in the US, WAI now has members in 88 countries.</p>
<p>“Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, there wasn’t a large percentage of women in aviation careers,” Chabrian recalls, “but what was happening – and was noticeable – was that aviation companies and organisations were looking to hire more women and trying to get the message out that ‘the doors are open’.</p>
<p>“Thus, the timing to create WAI was good. Over the 30 years, a couple of things stand out in terms of the increase in the number of women,” she adds. “That’s in terms of pilots. I know people often refer to the number of women in the pilot population as still being only six or seven percent. But the significant change has been the number of women who have gone on to get their commercial pilot certificate (CPL) and, even more importantly, their ATP certificate (ATPL) which gives them the eligibility to fly for the airlines.</p>
<p>“When the first [WAI] conference was being planned in 1990, only about 1% of the pilots were women. Now that number is around 6%.”</p>
<p>That current percentage is also based on a bigger block of pilots too. “Yes, the percentage still sounds small, but if you take the raw numbers, the first woman hired by an airline didn’t happen until 1973 and now we have around 6,000 women with ATPLs. So that’s been significant,” Chabrian notes.</p>
<p>“One other area I’ll mention is along the same lines. That’s the number of women who have attained their aviation mechanics certificate. It was less than one percent when WAI started and now it’s around 3.5%. Again, although the percentage is small, the broad numbers have increased.”</p>
<p>Chabrian is also quick to highlight the how there has been significant change in the number of women in leadership positions in aviation. “In US national positions, we’ve had three women FAA administrators and a chair of the National Transportation Safety Board in the last 20 years. The women who are presidents of airlines today and the upper level management positions at the major and regional airlines, has grown. Plus there are more women who have started their own aviation companies and organisations. If you look at companies like Boeing and Airbus, women are now in senior level positions,” she observes.</p>
<p>“That will help in the future for young people in elementary, middle and high schools as seeing women in such roles will be an encouragement. They can think, ‘Oh, that’s maybe something I should consider doing’.”</p>
<p>While the pilot and MRO personnel numbers continue to grow, there are disciplines where Chabrian would have liked to have seen more progress by now. “Participation is particularly low among avionics technicians and also engineers – aeronautical engineers and aerospace engineers,” she comments.</p>
<p>“One thing that may help in terms of more engineers is the growth and expansion and excitement currently surrounding the space programme. The general public is getting excited about space again and that will affect the numbers getting into engineering, especially aeronautical engineering,” she continues. “The activity surrounding the space programme and unmanned vehicles has brought a lot of excitement with the new technologies. For example, there’s excitement for a child in learning to fly a drone, which may lead to something further down the road and a career in aviation.”</p>
<p>Chabrian has always passed on her personal thoughts and recommendations to women wanting to discover what the industry has to offer and how to pursue it. Although the message will never stop, she is happy to crystallise her current thoughts.</p>
<p>“My basic message is to get women to realise that there is a multitude of aviation careers out there and to start doing simple research, such as reading aviation publications and doing searches on the internet. Also, attend an aviation event in your area. Perhaps there’s an airport or an aviation company in your area – visit them and learn more about them,” she advocates.</p>
<p>“At WAI, we have 130 Chapters all around the world. Find out if there’s a chapter in the local area, so you get a chance not only to learn about aviation, but actually start making contacts – the networking and mentoring type of thing – for which we’re well known. You could also attend the WAI conference and aviation events, just to start accruing as much first-hand knowledge as possible.</p>
<p>“Further along, there’s looking at different college and university degree programme opportunities. There are seats of learning all around the world that offer aviation degrees from aviation management, flight, maintenance, engineering to marketing and operations such as air traffic control,” Chabrian emphasises.</p>
<p>“Sometimes people ask, ‘Do you think there is still a glass ceiling?’ I would say the industry is in need of people – men and women – but we’re wanting to encourage women to consider aviation as a career option and get them to participate and join in. The timing is great!</p>
<p>“There’s a worldwide shortage of pilots and maintenance technicians and the expectation over the next 10 years is that very large numbers of those folks are going to be needed. Again, great opportunities in terms of positions and also in terms of salaries. It’s a good time to be coming into the aviation industry.”</p>
<p>The WAI leader’s message also includes a need for those working for aviation companies in what might not be thought of as traditional aviation roles, to recognise their value to the industry. “At an industry reception recently, I was introduced to a woman who works for Airbus. She was wanting to know more about WAI, who we are and what we do. She had heard of us, but said, ‘Well I’m not a woman in aviation.’ I said, ‘Didn’t you say you work for Airbus?’ She confirmed that, so I asked what she did. She works in a management position within their finance department. So I said, ‘Well you are a woman and you are in aviation.’</p>
<p>“That’s part of the message too. You can be an educator, a writer, in marketing, in the legal field – and still be involved in aviation.”</p>
<p>Chabrian will continue her WAI work until April 2020 to ensure a smooth transition once a new CEO has been appointed. If ever “They’ve got big shoes to fill” were appropriate, taking on the WAI leadership role might just be the moment.</p>
<p><img alt="Peggy Chabrian" src="/getasset/e31d9f50-e881-4119-9af5-680414093db7/" /></p>
<p>Having founded WAI and been its guiding light, Chabrian is perfectly placed to observe the degree of change for women in aviation – the numbers involved, the way women are treated and much more. To give an idea of the numbers, WAI’s first conference in 1990 had 150 participants. Now the event attracts more than 4,800 attendees. Also, although it began in the US, WAI now has members in 88 countries.</p>
<p>“Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, there wasn’t a large percentage of women in aviation careers,” Chabrian recalls, “but what was happening – and was noticeable – was that aviation companies and organisations were looking to hire more women and trying to get the message out that ‘the doors are open’.</p>
<p>“Thus, the timing to create WAI was good. Over the 30 years, a couple of things stand out in terms of the increase in the number of women,” she adds. “That’s in terms of pilots. I know people often refer to the number of women in the pilot population as still being only six or seven percent. But the significant change has been the number of women who have gone on to get their commercial pilot certificate (CPL) and, even more importantly, their ATP certificate (ATPL) which gives them the eligibility to fly for the airlines.</p>
<p>“When the first [WAI] conference was being planned in 1990, only about 1% of the pilots were women. Now that number is around 6%.”</p>
<p>That current percentage is also based on a bigger block of pilots too. “Yes, the percentage still sounds small, but if you take the raw numbers, the first woman hired by an airline didn’t happen until 1973 and now we have around 6,000 women with ATPLs. So that’s been significant,” Chabrian notes.</p>
<p>“One other area I’ll mention is along the same lines. That’s the number of women who have attained their aviation mechanics certificate. It was less than one percent when WAI started and now it’s around 3.5%. Again, although the percentage is small, the broad numbers have increased.”</p>
<p>Chabrian is also quick to highlight the how there has been significant change in the number of women in leadership positions in aviation. “In US national positions, we’ve had three women FAA administrators and a chair of the National Transportation Safety Board in the last 20 years. The women who are presidents of airlines today and the upper level management positions at the major and regional airlines, has grown. Plus there are more women who have started their own aviation companies and organisations. If you look at companies like Boeing and Airbus, women are now in senior level positions,” she observes.</p>
<p>“That will help in the future for young people in elementary, middle and high schools as seeing women in such roles will be an encouragement. They can think, ‘Oh, that’s maybe something I should consider doing’.”</p>
<p>While the pilot and MRO personnel numbers continue to grow, there are disciplines where Chabrian would have liked to have seen more progress by now. “Participation is particularly low among avionics technicians and also engineers – aeronautical engineers and aerospace engineers,” she comments.</p>
<p>“One thing that may help in terms of more engineers is the growth and expansion and excitement currently surrounding the space programme. The general public is getting excited about space again and that will affect the numbers getting into engineering, especially aeronautical engineering,” she continues. “The activity surrounding the space programme and unmanned vehicles has brought a lot of excitement with the new technologies. For example, there’s excitement for a child in learning to fly a drone, which may lead to something further down the road and a career in aviation.”</p>
<p>Chabrian has always passed on her personal thoughts and recommendations to women wanting to discover what the industry has to offer and how to pursue it. Although the message will never stop, she is happy to crystallise her current thoughts.</p>
<p>“My basic message is to get women to realise that there is a multitude of aviation careers out there and to start doing simple research, such as reading aviation publications and doing searches on the internet. Also, attend an aviation event in your area. Perhaps there’s an airport or an aviation company in your area – visit them and learn more about them,” she advocates.</p>
<p>“At WAI, we have 130 Chapters all around the world. Find out if there’s a chapter in the local area, so you get a chance not only to learn about aviation, but actually start making contacts – the networking and mentoring type of thing – for which we’re well known. You could also attend the WAI conference and aviation events, just to start accruing as much first-hand knowledge as possible.</p>
<p>“Further along, there’s looking at different college and university degree programme opportunities. There are seats of learning all around the world that offer aviation degrees from aviation management, flight, maintenance, engineering to marketing and operations such as air traffic control,” Chabrian emphasises.</p>
<p>“Sometimes people ask, ‘Do you think there is still a glass ceiling?’ I would say the industry is in need of people – men and women – but we’re wanting to encourage women to consider aviation as a career option and get them to participate and join in. The timing is great!</p>
<p>“There’s a worldwide shortage of pilots and maintenance technicians and the expectation over the next 10 years is that very large numbers of those folks are going to be needed. Again, great opportunities in terms of positions and also in terms of salaries. It’s a good time to be coming into the aviation industry.”</p>
<p>The WAI leader’s message also includes a need for those working for aviation companies in what might not be thought of as traditional aviation roles, to recognise their value to the industry. “At an industry reception recently, I was introduced to a woman who works for Airbus. She was wanting to know more about WAI, who we are and what we do. She had heard of us, but said, ‘Well I’m not a woman in aviation.’ I said, ‘Didn’t you say you work for Airbus?’ She confirmed that, so I asked what she did. She works in a management position within their finance department. So I said, ‘Well you are a woman and you are in aviation.’</p>
<p>“That’s part of the message too. You can be an educator, a writer, in marketing, in the legal field – and still be involved in aviation.”</p>
<p>Chabrian will continue her WAI work until April 2020 to ensure a smooth transition once a new CEO has been appointed. If ever “They’ve got big shoes to fill” were appropriate, taking on the WAI leadership role might just be the moment.</p>