U.S. Senate aviation subcommittee chair Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois) stressed the importance of stepping up funding to draw women into the workforce, saying efforts thus far haven’t been nearly enough.
Speaking at an event sponsored by eVTOL air taxi developer Joby Aviation on Capitol Hill in honor of International Women in Aviation Week, Duckworth noted strong support for provisions that would increase and expand grants to foster the aviation workforce, particularly with women and other underrepresented groups, and create a women in aviation advisory committee within the Department of Transportation.
These measures were “very bipartisan,” she said. “We fought over a lot of other things— the 1,500-hour rule, we fought over perimeter rule—this was not [something] that we had to fight over.”
While increases are in store for the Aviation Work Force Development Program, which provides up to $500,000 for institutions training aviation workers, and for the hiring of air traffic controllers, she said, “That's still not enough. We're going keep working on it. Since the pandemic, the aviation industry has been struggling with the labor shortage.”
Noting the small percentage of women in certain aviation disciplines and the concerns surrounding workforce shortages, Duckworth said, “You want the largest pool of people that you can recruit from, and if you keep 51 percent of your population out…you can't compete on a global scale. It's really important to have this widespread a large a population of potential workers in the future aviation at all levels.”
Joby president of operations Bonny Simi kicked off the event held Wednesday evening that drew industry leaders, members of Congress, and government officials.
“When we think about the gender gap within the aviation industry, it's really largely in a couple of areas. One is in women in leadership and pilots and mechanics. Yet tonight, we have women here who…who narrow that gap,” she said, and pointed to audience members that included JetBlue CEO Joanna Geraghty and U.S. Air Force trailblazer retired Maj. Gen. Jeannie Leavitt.
Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) also stepped up to the podium Wednesday evening, noting that the first female pilot’s license was issued on March 8, 1910. “A lot has happened to aviation since then. I've always said the first 100 years of aviation has been pretty good and now the second 100 is what we have to get ready for,” Cantwell said.
She also pointed to efforts to help drive down the costs of educating the next generation of aviation workforce and expressed appreciation for those measures in the FAA and other bills.
“Women remain significantly underrepresented…We just need to do our part and we are trying to do that.”
Beyond pilots and technicians, she stressed a need for women to play a role in the future of aviation such as the development of thermal plastic or composites and sustainable aviation fuel. “We hope that women will do their part in trying to help represent those particular gains in science that are critical to the next generation of aviation success.”
Geraghty, the first female CEO of a major airline, noted “there’s a lot of different paths” for women to the C-suite positions and said women should look at all the experiences they can obtain to become the best-rounded leader—from finance and legal to operations and human capital. She also said mentorship is critical, as well as reaching out for advice from others on what paths provide the “greatest set of opportunities, experiences, and exposure.”