An ANN Special Report -- By Aleta Vinas

I'd like to focus on an organization that encompasses women from all aspects of aviation. Women in Aviation, International is open to pilots, air traffic controllers, avionics and maintenance techs, engineers and those who are not yet in aviation but sure want to be! WAI is so all encompassing, even men are allowed to join, and you can't get much more politically correct than that! With over seven thousand active members, WAI didn't start out as an organization.

WAI founder Dr. Peggy Chabrian started down the aviation pathway in 1978 with her private license. She has since accumulated over 3,000 hours and numerous ratings.  Originally planning to become a schoolteacher, Chabrian combined her love of aviation with her desire to teach. She obtained her BS degree from Middle Tennessee State in June 1980. At the urging of a department chairperson, Chabrian returned to her books and obtained her master's degree in aerospace education. The end of her school years was still not in sight. After seeking advice from professors, Chabrian decided to teach aviation at a university level, a position that requires a doctorate so she was yet again hitting the books and obtained her Ph D. in Educational Administration and Supervision at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. The doctorate from UT at Knoxville would fill the PhD requirements but how could Chabrian tie it into aviation?

In a stroke of genius and business acumen, her doctoral dissertation was a study on faculty qualifications at universities with aviation programs. The questionnaire Chabrian sent required information on the academic qualifications, flight qualifications, salaries, tenure and promotion requirements. Most importantly it included the questions, "are you currently hiring and what are the qualifications for this position"? Can you say job search? Chabrian sent resumes to the openings, winding up with two offers fresh out of school.  She chose Georgia State University over a position in Ohio due to the proximity of GSU to the Chattanooga area she had been living in.

A year later, Chabrian moved into a position at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach. As a side note for those flight instructors out there who have attended the ERAU Flight Instructor Refresher Clinic, we have Dr. Chabrian to thank for its inception. After two years at ERAU Daytona, Chabrian headed to ERAU west, the Prescott Arizona campus.  It was around this time that Chabrian noticed something any male in the aviation field can tell you "there's just not enough women" albeit Chabrian's viewpoint was from an entirely different perspective.

Chabrian mused "Wouldn't it be nice for the students if we could have a one day conference and bring in some women from the industry so the students could see that, yes, this is a good field to go into and women are out there and they're doing it." 

The idea began percolating in Chabrian's mind but there was an incident that raised the temperature to the boiling point. During a flight back to Phoenix in 1989, Chabrian sat next to one of those chatty-type passengers. During the conversation the gentlemen spoke of his vocation and then offered Chabrian her turn. Chabrian began to explain how she taught in Prescott at an all aviation-oriented university. The gentlemen stopped her, "Say no more, you teach flight attendants, right?" This was 1989. Remember?. Dr. Chabrian who was a Dean at ERAU at the time, politely enlightened the gentleman that while flight attendant is a great profession, women did work in areas other than the center aisle of a jetliner.

That first WAI conference was a day and a half affair, which took place in March 1990 at ERAU Prescott. The small gathering of 150 people, which included folks from the campus and the local area, were treated to the likes of Jeanna Yeager, Dr. Shannon Lucid, Bobbi Trout as well as others. In the early years there were no scholarships and no official organization behind the conference to join. Attendance continued to increase and during the summer of 1994 the planning committee for the March 1995 conference raised the question, "since coming to the conference for 3, 4, 5 years, we come to this conference once a year and get all excited then have to wait till next year! How do I join the organization?" Organization, what organization? There was no organization and Chabrian's initial reaction was "there are already hundreds out there, I probably belong to half of them. We don't need another one."  After this initial thought, Chabrian did see the need.

Most of the women's aviation organizations out there were niche-oriented and geared toward a specific group - pilots, mechanics, engineers etc. (in future articles I hope to cover some of them). The incorporation paperwork was filed in December 1994 and Women in Aviation International, Inc. was announced at the March 1995 conference as a non-profit organization (tax deductible contributions accepted). WAI was dedicated to the encouragement and advancement of women in all aviation careers and interests. The 1995 conference was also the year the first scholarships were offered. Two five hundred dollar scholarships were presented.  Since then membership has grown, and as for the scholarships, how does over half a million grab you? While about forty to fifty percent of the scholarships are for pilot applicants, that still leaves much on the plate for dispatchers, engineers, maintenance and management as well as general scholarships to be applied anywhere in an aviation related field. There are scholarships for newbies to aviation as well as the "oldies". The scholarships winners are announced at the three-day conference. 

This year the conference celebrates its 15th anniversary in Reno, Nevada, March 11-13. The conference is the place to be for networking, prospecting, job hunting, interviewing and advice. Over 150 exhibitors including over 40 universities with aviation programs are represented. The conference has been called one of the most "spirited and enthusiastic aviation conferences." "The atmosphere is very nurturing and mentoring." The speaker's list reads like a who's who in aviation, women and men. FAA Administrator, Marion Blakey; air show pilot and retired Northwest Airlines Captain, Julie Clark; Secretary of the Air Force, the Honorable James G. Roche. In addition to the booths and guests, there will be a cornucopia of lectures, safety seminars with topics across the entire spectrum of aviation. The pilot-mechanic connection, Nanotechnology: changing the aircraft composite, WASP then and now. No matter what area of aviation you lean toward, there are at least a few seminars with your name on it. There is also a day before conference special, a teacher's workshop (scout leaders, CAP etc are also welcome), which shows educators from the local area how to use aviation as a motivator in the classroom.

While the conference may lean a little more towards networking for those already in aviation, WAI does much to foster aviation ideas in young people. Each chapter, currently there are 45 in the US alone, holds at least one activity per year working with the youth in their local area. Even more personalized is the mentoring program for members. Those who are in the industry can offer to be a mentor to young members nearby, or even over the phone, who have questions about the area of aviation that the mentor is working in.

Women in Aviation International runs the gamut for anyone interested in the field of aviation. The mentoring program alone is worth the price of membership. There are several different levels of membership from individual to corporate.  The scholarships, networking and conferences are like a bonus. I haven't even mentioned the magazine with interviews, ideas, product and book reviews. Anyone, and not just women, with an eye towards aviation should check it out.

FMI: www.wai.org