Delta Airline Has All-Female Crew Bring 120 Girls To Visit NASA To Encourage More Women To Get Into Aviation

Oct 10, 2019 by apost team

An all-female flight crew recently carried 120 girls from Salt Lake City to Houston, where they learned from and were inspired by women at NASA. The entire excursion, even including those in the tower and everybody that the children met at NASA, only involved women.

It was part of Delta's WING Flight; WING stands for Women Inspiring our Next Generation. This is the fifth annual one to have taken place, and it was held in connection with International Girls in Aviation Day, which is annually celebrated on Oct. 5. The aim behind events such as these is to close the male-female gap in aviation that exists.

Many of the participants voiced their excitement and enthusiasm after being part of the program.

Karyanna, 16, told Delta News, "It's such an exciting time to be in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math). There's so much left for us to discover."

Katelyn J, 17, added that she had initially thought that it wasn't realistic for her to pursue an aviation career but now believes, "I can do this too." Shanae C, 17, said that she "loved being able to look at all of the things these successful women have accomplished."

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While at NASA, the girls got to see Space Center Houston, Johnson Space Center, Building 9 and Mission Control Center in detail and got to spend time with a female technician who works with Delta's technical operations team and Jeanette Epps, an aerospace engineer and astronaut with NASA. 

General Manager of Pilot Development Beth Poole has helped plan WING flights since 2015. 

 "We know representation matters. At Delta, we believe you have to see it to be it," she said.  

"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."

Are you a woman who has or do you know of a woman who has succeeded in a currently male-dominated field? What advice would you give to girls who may not believe that they're good enough to do the same? Let us know in the comments - and make sure you pass this along to your friends and family!