“I Can Do This Too,” Say Young Girls with a Dream Career in Aviation

On International Girls in Aviation Day, the U.S. airline, Delta, flew 120 girls to NASA, with an all-female crew. Their mission: encouraging more girls to pursue a career in the male-dominated industry.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, only 7% of licensed pilots, and 6.4% of commercial ones, are women. The annual Women Inspiring our Next Generation (WING) flights by Delta are aimed at increasing the number of female pilots, and has flown more than 600 girls aged between 12 and 18 over its first five years.

“We know representation matters. At Delta, we believe you have to see it to be it,” says Beth Poole, Delta’s general manager of pilot development. “We’re taking ownership to improve gender diversity by exposing girls at a young age and providing a pipeline so that 10 years from now, they will be the pilots in the Delta cockpit inspiring generations of women who follow.”

“It didn’t seem realistic to go after a career in aviation,” says 17-year-old Katelyn, one of the participants of the 5^th annual WING flight. “But today I realized, ‘Hey, I can do this too.'”