Ethiad Airlines Training Women Pilots

Aisha Al Mansouri, 20 who joined the programme straight out of high school, joined Salma Al Beloushi in receiving certificates of completion after a rigorous 18-month training program. In just eight more months, Al Mansouri and Al Beloushi will become qualified A320 first officers, or co-pilots.

For the two women, putting on their uniforms, complete with golden wing pins and caps, meant going against generations of tradition that has kept women out of fields such as aviation. "It's something new for Emirati women," said Al Beloushi. "My mother has been very supportive and so has the rest of my family. Sometimes I had to tolerate teasing by the boys. They would joke about how I am going to make a great coffee and juice server. But once I put my uniform on, it changed everything."

Al Beloushi, who had been studying nursing, said she decided to apply for the pilot training program after seeing Etihad's advertisement in a local paper. She said it represented a challenge and opportunity to make her family proud.

For Al Mansouri, pilot training came as a logical choice. It represented an opportunity for a guaranteed job in less than three years, she said, and a chance to join the ranks of pilots in her family. Al Mansouri's sister, Mariam, is already a veteran fighter pilot with the UAE Armed Forces and her brother, Ali, is a helicopter pilot for Abu Dhabi Police.

"It used to be hard to believe that a UAE national can be at the helm of an aeroplane, be it male or female," said Al Mansouri's father, Hassan. "Now it is becoming a reality with my own daughter. It's a beautiful feeling."

The training program offered by Etihad to UAE nationals and foreign students allows prospective pilots to start from scratch and become qualified first officers for the airline in about 26 months. Training, which could cost around $50,000 (Dh184,000) or more in the United States, is given free of charge provided graduates sign a pledge that they will work for Etihad for at least five years.

Matthew Dowell, head of Etihad's Cadet Pilots Program, said that Al Beloushi and Al Mansouri received 750 hours of class time and more than 200 hours of flight time in small single and twin-engine planes. The next and final phase of training will see the students step into A320s first as observers from the jump seat, then as co-pilots in training under the supervision of designated captain trainers. "It's a huge step for them," said Dowell. "But it's a step that we take very slowly. We give them a lot of ground training and we don't send them until they're ready."

The WASP at the International Women in Aviation Conference

The Air Force Reserve 4th Combat Camera Squadron captured some moving footage of the WASP at the 20th Anniversary International Women in Aviation Conference. Here's just a taste of what you have in store if you are signed up for the 21st Annual International Women in Aviation Conference, being held February 25-27, 2010, near Orlando, Florida.

Not signed up? Log on to www.wai.org today and register today!

Ayla Aviation Academy Plans 2010 Women in Aviation Day

"We will be holding the Women in Aviation Conference in the autumn of 2010," says Kinda Sarrage, publicity manager for the school. "It will be held for the first time ever in the Middle East at our academy in Aqaba, Jordan. The conference will highlight the progression and contribution of women in the various fields of aviation, the dynamics of the corporate culture and the effect of gender on corporate culture."

Ayla Aviation Academy is the only JAA ATPL (A) approved ground school in the Middle East. Ground and flight training instructors at the Academy are highly qualified, fully certified trainers and career instructors, with teaching experience in the Middle East, Europe and the United States. The conference, according to Sarrage, will focus on the advantages and benefits of employing and investing in women, future challenges for the industry and how to overcome them.

"We want women in the region to realize that the aviation industry is not just a man's world, but one in which women can also thrive. This conference will be used to attract companies and individuals from the aviation industry, including women, top management of airlines, civil aviation authorities, military representatives, engineers, non-government organizations and educational institutions that promote the advancement of women," says Sarrage.

Royal Jordanian Airlines Flies First All-Female Crew

Captain Carol Rabadi and co-pilot Hadeel Khamash, accompanied by an all-women cabin crew, recorded a first for Jordanian and aviation history. Since the establishment of Royal Jordanian Airlines (RJ), two other women were awarded the same rank and flew, but there had never been an all-female cockpit and cabin crewed flight.

RJ Head of Flight Operations Captain Haitham Misto decorated Carol Rabadi with the four-stripe captain badge at a special ceremony arranged by the airline. The all-female crew consisting of six women, and a large number of local and Arab media representatives attended the ceremony.

Captain Rabadi said her first flight as captain, together with co-pilot Khamash will be a landmark in her life and the airline's history where women play a major role. She praised the support and training RJ gives its women employees who work in all the departments, including the operational and engineering sectors.

Rabadi underlined that her success in this career, which requires skill, accuracy and great responsibility, is also due to her colleagues' permanent encouragement during her training. At the same time, during the training, which included aviation sciences, Rabadi said she benefited from RJ, which holds the highest safety standards and commitment to international rules and regulations.

Captain Misto said that Royal Jordanian, a oneworld airline member, represents an advanced and sophisticated sector of the society and is a leading national company where men and women work side by side to operate safe and comfortable flights and offer distinguished services.

India Inducts First Two Female Airborne Tacticians into Navy

Sub-Lieutenants Ambica Hooda of Haryana and Seema Rani Sharma of Uttar Pradesh, who are airborne tacticians on the Indian Navy's multi-role Dornier aircraft used for transportation and aerial surveillance, were awarded wings by the Indian Navy. Observers are airborne tacticians who conduct operations, in a military aircraft.

Hooda and Sharma, both 22-years old, completed a 16 month course at the Naval Academy at Mandovi in Goa and other professional schools of the Indian Navy before landing up at the Observer School at INS Garuda in Kochi.

Women in Aviation: Making a Difference in Nigeria

By Oamen Godsave
LAGOS—The Aviation Minister, Mr. Babatunde Omotoba, has charged managers of the nation’s aviation industry to focus their attention on training of more women for consistency and sustainability of the sector.

Omotoba, who was represented by the Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr. Harold Demuren, said that remained one potent way the industry could be moved forward.

He said the ratio between men and women in the sub-sector was too high, but promised that it would be bridged soon, as more women were now being given attention.

The minister said: “We discovered that when you invest in women, there is every possibility that they will stay behind to grow the industry because they are not just wives but mothers who will want to ensure that they stay very close to their families. I appeal to some of my colleagues to equally invest more in women so that we can move forward in the industry.

“In every area of aviation we have more men than women. The only area we have more women than men is in the cabin crew but we still need them more in aviation matters. We are ready to encourage professionalism and that we will do. The goal of NCAA is zero accident, zero fatalities and carbon clean environment. I am urging women to join us in achieving this goal.”

In her keynote address, the former Minister of Aviation, Mrs. Kema Chikwe, noted that women should hold more sensitive positions in the industry as they have proved overtime that they are equal to men in all ramifications.

Chikwe who was represented at the occasion by a director in the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mrs. Nnena Kalejaye recalled that during her time as the minister in the sector, she encouraged the appointment of female directors in some of the agencies who she said are still performing creditably well in the sector.

“In the security department of FAAN, I made sure a female chief of security was appointed at the international airport because of my firm belief that a woman was needed to bring sanity to the airport. I also recall upgrading the aviation training school where mostly woman were in charge. I personally attended a couple of their training programmes and the reports I got concerning the training school even after I left the ministry remained favourable.

She commended women for the formation of the association in the country in spite of their tight schedules and urged them to use the platform to make an impact in the country’s aviation industry, adding that the only way they would continue to excel in their profession was for them to continue to liaise with more experienced colleagues.

Mrs. Helen Schrader of the American embassy in Nigeria noted that women in aviation is an appropriate forum for advocating democracy and good governance not just in the country but in the world over, saying that aviation is an international business.

Schrader emphasised that the forum met the criteria of being the risk-takers, doers and makers, stressing that no woman who has made a career in aviation lacks courage.

Women in Aviation in Africa - Côte d'Ivoire

Women in Aviation, International was well-represented at the recent meeting of African Civil Aviation organizations in Yamoussoukro, Côte d'Ivoire. Aviation for Women editor Amy Laboda, and Chapter Relations Manager Betty Huck were invited guests of Mdme. Marie Delesse, Counselor to the President of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire Laurent Gbagbo. Mdme. Delesse is coordinating the organization of the first Women in Aviation, International Chapter in Côte d'Ivoire.

More than a dozen different African countries were represented at the meeting, and excellent contacts were made with other women working in the aviation industry in Ghana, Chad, Kenya, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Senegal and throughout all of the African continent. Many women were excited about the prospect of attending the 21st International Women in Aviation Conference, to be held February 25-27, 2010 in Orlando, Florida.

Mdme. Delesse, Laboda and Huck were decorated by the President for their efforts to encourage women to pursue careers in aviation worldwide, and especially in Africa. Stay tuned for more information about Women in Aviation, International's outreach efforts worldwide.

Highest Time Flight Instructor Turns 100

“I used to say that on my birthday Willard Scott would tell me happy birthday, but I wouldn’t hear him because I’d be up flying,” said Evelyn Johnson, manager of the Moore-Murrell Airport in Morristown, Tennesee. “I never thought I’d have a medical problem such as eyesight that would keep me from doing that flying.” A problem with Glaucoma finally ended Johnson's flying career, but it hasn't ended her work in aviation. She still goes to work as the airport manager each weekday. “I’ve enjoyed that for 56 years, and still do every day,” she said. “I enjoy everything about aviation and flying.”

The city of Morristown is building a new terminal building at the airport, which will be named for Johnson. “I was hoping it would be done in time for my birthday,” Johnson said. “One of the city council fellows was hoping I could put the key in the door on my birthday, and let all the people in.” Unfortunately, the building isn't quite done.

The Tennessee Aviation Hall of Fame plans to commemorate Johnson’s birthday on Nov. 14, before the eighth annual Tennessee Aviation Hall of Fame Gala and Induction Ceremony at the Tennessee Museum of Aviation in Sevierville. This year the organization will enshrine Jennifer C. Baker, Jim D. Ethridge, the late E. Ward King, and retired Air Force Lt. Col. William H. Pickron. More information on the event is available on theTennessee Aviation Hall of Fame’s Web site. Johnson was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005.

For more information on Evelyn, see www.wai.org, or www.aopa.org.

Movie Review — Amelia

Starring Hilary Swank and Richard Gere. Directed by Mira Nair. Opening nationwide on October 23, 2009

Historical movies, especially biopics, usually send me scrambling to the library to read the "real" story, and "Amelia" is no different. I had many questions after watching the new movie starring Hilary Swank.
Wasn't George Putnam married before Amelia? There was no mention of that. Did Gore Vidal and his father figure prominently in Earhart's life? Doesn't the Electra have wing walks? Seemed like AE was always sliding down the wing in inappropriate footwear. And was she really the Commander of that first flight across the Atlantic, did the pilots really listen to what she had to say? Where was Paul Mantz, I thought he was a major figure in the round-the-world attempt, why doesn't he appear anywhere in the film?
I wanted this movie to be different, and perhaps my expectations were too high.
It was very well acted, and looked sumptuous. The aviation footage was good, especially flying scenes in what is supposed to be the "Kinner Airster" and her more famous airplanes. The crash in Hawaii was exciting and well filmed, and the Electra looks great.

My complaint is that it lacks what I might call the "me too" factor. I did not say, "I want to do that" in very many scenes. I hoped for a movie that inspired young girls to want to check out the airport. I wanted a movie that said Amelia Earhart was a fascinating individual, but that we could all be like her if we wanted to be.

Yes, Amelia Earhart was a singular person, but there are many more Amelias out there than we are often given credit for. Think of all the amazing women you've met at any WAI Conference.

Of course I think everyone should go see this movie — how often do you get to see a movie that focuses on a woman pilot? Look in the credits for the wingwalker Carol Pilon and Maxime Fornier, who flew a Cessna in the film. (All the other aerial unit pilots appear to have been men.)

Go to the movie and tell us what you think, right here on this blog.
Then read some great books, and get the full story. —Nancy Bink

Recommended Books:
The Sound Of Wings: The Life Of Amelia Earhart by Mary S. Lovell
East to the Dawn by Susan Butler
Letters from Amelia 1901-1937 by Jean L. Backus

Sarah Byrn Rickman Awarded $20,000 at NBAA Convention

The National Aviation Hall of Fame (NAHF) announced the recipient of its Seventh Annual Combs Gates Award, author and historian Sarah Byrn Rickman, for her trilogy based on the Women Pilots of the Ferry Command. Rickman received the $20,000 cash award in recognition of her thorough research on women pilots during World War II, during the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) Annual Meeting & Convention in Orlando, Florida.

Presenting the award on behalf of the NAHF was Amanda Wright-Lane, great grand-niece of Orville and Wilbur Wright, along with four enshrinees of the NAHF: former astronaut and the last man to walk on the moon, Eugene Cernan; WWII fighter pilot, test pilot and air show legend, Bob Hoover; record-setting aviator, former fighter pilot and Vietnam POW, Joe Kittinger; and Chairman Emeritus of Cessna Aircraft, Russell Meyer, Jr.

Sarah Rickman’s trilogy explores the stories of the women pilots flying for the Army's Ferrying Division during World War II. With exceptional research and first hand interviews, Rickman brings out the real story of women pilots who flew more than nine million miles ferrying 72 different warplane models. They completed 12,650 domestic movements of airplanes and flew 115,000 pilot hours in the 27 months they were in operation, October 1942 to December 1944.

The first book of the series is Nancy Love and the WASP Ferry Pilots of World War II. The second book, The Originals: The Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron of World War II is the history of the 28 professional women pilots comprised Nancy Love’s original ferrying squadron – the first women in the U.S. to fly for the Army. Rickman’s third book, tentatively titled Wasp in the Ferry Command, will focus on the women who flew for the Ferrying Division in 1943-1944, graduating from Jackie Cochran’s’ women's flight training facility first located in Houston, Texas.

The prestigious Combs Award grew out of a donation to the NAHF by the late Harry Combs, a 1996 enshrinee of the Hall of Fame. As part of his generous $1.3 million gift for the creation of a NAHF research center, Combs stipulated that the Combs Award be established to encourage and support relevant aviation history research and preservation efforts. A panel of expert judges reviews each submission based upon criteria such as historical accuracy, creativity, potential for long-term impact, and value to the Hall of Fame mission of honoring America’s outstanding air and space pioneers. The inaugural award was presented at the Opening General Session of the NBAA Meeting & Convention in 2003, the 100th anniversary of the first powered flight.

Combs died in December 2003 at age 90. During the inaugural award ceremony at the NBAA convention held a month before his passing, Combs remarked, “Just as Neil’s gift inspired me to discover the secrets of the Wrights, I want to motivate a new generation of historians, researchers and preservationists to continue the process of clarifying and preserving our nation’s amazing air and space history for generations to come.”

To find out more about the NAHF or to secure an application for next year’s Combs Gates Award, please contact the NAHF Harry B. Combs Research Department at (937) 256-0944, Ext. 18, or visit www.nationalaviation.org.

WAI Member Dolores Pavletic honored at Lewis University Homecoming

ROMEOVILLE— Dolores Pavletic of Downers Grove was recently honored for achievement in the field of aviation by Lewis University. The Assistant Chief Pilot and Flight Operations Duty Officer for FedEx Express graduated from Lewis University in 1983.

Pavletic earned bachelor’s degrees in sociology and social work from Lewis University in 1983. She later attended Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida and she is a candidate for a master’s degree in aeronautical science.

Her extensive flying experience in air carrier, commuter airlines, cargo and passenger operations, has taken her around the world. As the only female Flight Manager at FedEx Express, Pavletic is responsible for the oversight of domestic and global airline operations.

She is affiliated with a number of organizations that further develop her professional skills and help the community. She is currently a member of the Air Line Pilots Association International and has worked with the Safety and Accident Investigation committees and the Critical Incidence Response Team. She is a charter member and current President of the Chicago chapter of the Women in Aviation International organization.

Pavletic mentors and assists with scholarship programs for the Women in Aviation International and the International Society of Women Airline Pilots. She also works with the EAA Young Eagles Program introducing children to flight, and the Air Classics Museum of Education Department, bringing e-learning opportunities to children worldwide. She consistently gives of her time to Lewis University through work in the mentoring program, the development of new course curriculum, the start of the Lewis University Women in Aviation student organization and scholarship development. She also participates as a member of the Lewis University Aviation Advisory Board.

Pavletic was among the eight alumni recognized with Alumni Achievement Awards Oct. 3 during the celebration Homecoming on the Romeoville campus.

Maj. Nicole Malachowski to Donate Amelia Earhart Achievement Award Toward Women Military Aviators' Scholarships

by Barbara Garwood

Ask any person to name a famous woman pilot, and very likely one answer you will hear is, "Amelia Earhart." The movie, "Amelia," again brings Amelia Earhart's famous life to the forefront and dramatizes a fascinating woman who loved to fly. From her first airplane ride in 1920 to only seven years later, Amelia became a celebrity known throughout the country as the first woman pilot (even though she was actually a passenger with two other male pilots) to cross the Atlantic. Her achievements were many; she set altitude and speed records, took third place in the "Powder Puff Derby" air race, authored a book, toured and lectured, and then in 1932 became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic.

A remarkable pioneer for women in aviation, Amelia has inspired many of us. She was quoted, "...now and then women should do for themselves what men have already done - occasionally what men have not done--thereby establishing themselves as persons, and perhaps encouraging other women toward greater independence of thought and action. Some such consideration was a contributing reason for my wanting to do what I so much wanted to do." July 2, 1937 became a most memorable and painful day to the entire country when she and her navigator Fred Noonan disappeared in their Lockheed 10E Electra somewhere near Howland Island in the Pacific in an attempt to be the first woman to fly around the world.

Maj. Nicole Malachowski, tactical call sign "FiFi," is our own inspiring Women Military Aviators (WMA) member with many firsts already achieved in her young life. In Atchison, Kansas, Amelia's birthplace, on July 11, 2009 the Amelia Earhart Festival took place celebrating the 112th year after Amelia's birth. Tributes by authors of books about Amelia, portrayals of Amelia by historians, arts, crafts, vendors and later acrobatics of wing walkers and parachutists were among the activities that took place. Maj. Nicole Malachowski received the Amelia Earhart Pioneering Achievement Award at the festival, which is presented to the individual whose life and career exemplifies the spirit of Amelia Earhart. To win the annual award requires an individual to demonstrate triumph over adversity, reinforce self worth and self confidence in young women and demonstrate that the sky is no longer the limit.

Maj. Malachowski certainly exemplifies all those things. She wanted to be a fighter pilot since she was five years old, unaware that at that time women were still not allowed to become fighter pilots. At a young age she saw the F-4 Phantom aircraft at an air show, impressed and awe struck by the sound and power. She started working on her pilot's license prior to graduating from high school with the help of a scholarship from the Nevada Civil Air Patrol. She joined Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps and attained the rank of Cadet Colonel, the highest rank a cadet could achieve in the country. Attending the United States Air Force Academy and graduating in the top 13% of 922 cadets in 1996, she went off to pilot training at Columbus AFB, MS and graduated fourth in her class in 1998. Just five years earlier, the Combat Exclusion Law prohibiting women from flying fighter aircraft had been changed by Congress, after years of study, debate and resistance in the military branches and a long hard battle fought by many military women and their supporters. Malachowski chose the F-15 Strike Eagle assignment and was on her way to becoming a fighter pilot!

Flying several tours at Seymour Johnson AFB, NC and RAF Lakenheath, England in the F-15E her jobs included standardization and evaluation (check pilot), instructor pilot in the F-15E, functional check flight pilot, supervisor of flying, and a tour at Camp Red Cloud, South Korea as an Army Liaison Officer for air operations support. During a second tour at Lakenheath, she deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, flying 26 combat missions. In June 2005, Malachowski was selected to be the first woman pilot on the USAF Air Demonstration Squadron, the Thunderbirds. She transitioned to the F-16 in August 2005 and joined the team in November 2005, flying in 140 air shows during her assignment with the team until November 2007.

When I asked her about the Amelia Earhart Award being given to an individual who demonstrates triumph over adversity, Malachowski replied, "To be honest, I don't think of things as 'adverse'...I think of things as challenges to be overcome. Therefore, I think in terms of victory. As with many women military aviators, I've received a few 'inquisitive looks' when people find out I'm a fighter pilot. When I became a Thunderbird pilot in 2005, that was taken to a much higher level. I came to see those 'inquisitive looks' and 'doubting questions' as opportunities to educate people about what women are dong in military aviation. Luckily for those of us who fly...the aircraft is the greatest equalizer in the world. You can make your point without saying anything at all...because all you have to do is fly the plane."

After flying with the Thunderbirds, Malachowski was selected as a White House Fellow from November 2007 until just this past August, a prestigious program established by President Johnson in 1964, where she served as a special assistant to White House Staff members, among many other duties. When I spoke with Malachowski at the last WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilot) convention in Dallas in September 2008, she was preparing two different offices for President Elect prior to the election, not knowing what the outcome would be at the time. A great admirer of the WASPS, Malachowski drafted a Senate bill to award the Congressional Gold Medal to the WASPS, and after much networking, including teaming up with the Parrish family's efforts, the bill became reality on July 1, 2009, when President Obama signed it into law.

The Amelia Earhart Award monetarily consists of $10,000 from the Cray Family Foundation, which was awarded to Malachowski in honor of her service. The award is being donated by the Foundation to the WMA scholarship committee, as Malachowski has suggested, in honor of the WASPS and their service. She stated, "When I drafted Senate Bill 614, I can't say that I knew it would become reality. What I can tell you, is I had in mind every military aviator, female and male, who has ever served. When I stood in the Oval Office with President Obama signing the Bill into Public Law 111-40...it was with great humility... in the face of 65 plus years of women in military aviation, women (and men) who had paved the way for all that my generation has been afforded. The character and values of these WASP symbolize all that is good in military service through aviation; they stand as role models to all airmen, from all generations...it truly is the WASP legacy that we have the privilege and the responsibility of carrying forward..."

Malachowski's preference for the scholarship money is for women of high school or college age seeking flying lessons for military service. She said, "The Civil Air Patrol took a chance on me and gave me a scholarship for flying lessons when I was in high school, and I am hoping to pay that gift forward. Every amazing opportunity I've had in my adult life has come from being in the Air Force...from meeting my husband, to leading peers in combat, to being a Thunderbird, a White House Fellow...I owe it all to the military experience."

What is the next assignment for Malachowski? She will be the Chief of International Developmental Fighter Programs in the Secretary of the Air Force Office of International Affairs, working in the weapons shop. Thank you Major Malachowski from all the Women Military Aviators and future women aviators to come.

Readers who are interested in applying for the WMA Dream of Flight Scholarship should go to the Women In Aviation International web site at www.wai.org. For more information on the Women Military Aviators, Inc. log on to www.womenmilitaryaviators.org.