Tag: workforce

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No Minced Words: WAI’s CEO Kicks Off WAI25 Tapping Into ‘Outrage’

“A world where the sky is open to all—where aviation and aerospace dreams are possible without barriers.”

Without barriers. If you had to encapsulate the mission of Women in Aviation International, that’s it. The fact we’re even *having* a conversation about the raising of those barriers in 2025 is unbelievable.

But here we are.

WAI25 Meets the Moment

Each time winter breaks through to the first signs of spring, I weigh our ever-expanding travel schedule to determine which aerospace events to attend against three factors: 

  • What I must attend
  • What I want to attend
  • What I can prioritize down in order to say yes to 1 & 2

The Women in Aviation International Conference—which I’ve made a part of my life since 1999—once more went from a “want” to a “must.”

Now, more than ever, this association’s critical mission meets the global moment as it faces a list of challenges, many coming from the U.S. government leadership, that would have been unimaginable a year ago.

Every day brings news of more “takedowns”: the violent scrubbing of resources and references supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives from websites to policy manuals, in the interest of tilting the playing field back to where it was in some vaguely unspecified time before we recognized the importance of representation across our workforce and communities.

WAI CEO Lynda Coffman pulled zero punches kicking off the conference on Thursday, March 27, at the Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center in Denver at the opening general session.

“As we sit here now, our hard-earned achievements and accomplishments are being erased,” said Coffman. “The policies that are perpetuating barriers and negative stereotypes will only reduce the number of women who can or want to enter aviation.”

So why should we care? Coffman—speaking from experience given her previous role in senior leadership at United Airlines—drew a direct connection to the bottom line for the aerospace industry. “That will lead to smaller talent pipelines for the industry. And those smaller talent pipelines mean a smaller talent pool for the industry, which means thinner pickings for the most qualified people.” That’s not good for anyone—especially when we compare the industry’s “stellar” safety record under these broadening initiatives and their positive impact on the recruitment of the best people.

Tapping into the spirit of the room, which numbered several hundred young people interested and invested in aviation sitting next to seasoned aviation professionals, Coffman asked how many felt disoriented, abandoned, and, yes, angry, given the current state of affairs. Hands flew up. “Yes, you should be feeling angry, because the rhetoric that’s down there right now is a damn outrage. 

“How dare anyone say we are less than, or less qualified because of our gender? It’s utter BS.”

Coffman urged those taking part in #WAI25 to move those feelings to collective action:

  1. Stand together and make their voices heard.
  2. Reach out to those women and allies feeling isolated, singled out, or anxious.
  3. Grow the community, with the stretch goal to lift membership in WAI to 25,000 by April 15.

“Let’s also make this a day,” said Coffman, “that we’ll send the message that we will stand together, we will not be undermined, we will not allow our talents and qualifications to be questioned, and we will not stand for our full contribution to history to be erased.”

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Jet-A Tax on BizAv?

The recent budget proposal from the White House includes a number of positive points—but one stands to kneecap the aviation industry just as it starts to leave the chocks on sustainability.

That’s the proposed 4X increase (from 22 cents to $1.06/gallon over 5 years) in the fuel tax on Jet-A for bizav operators, a line item that surely resonates with the green set, but bodes poorly for the ability to grow capability, capacity, and jobs under the sustainable aviation umbrella. The quest to net-zero by 2050 absolutely depends on it.

Here are my quick takes:

  1. The healthy flow of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) into the market relies upon the demand for Jet-A. While commercial aviation represents the bulk of the volume, business aviation has the flexibility and higher margins to accommodate the experimentation required to bring new sources of zero-emission fuel into play. 
  2. The infrastructure investments required to deliver SAF lean on the ability of local FBOs and governments—and distributors—to justify the cost to equip. With lower flowage into these wide-spread locations, the business case grows even more difficult than it already is in some places.
  3. Bringing aircraft production into the U.S.—and keeping what we have—is central to providing skilled labor with well-paying, satisfying work. Keeping sales and delivery volumes to what they reached in the bizav sector before and after the pandemic is vital to offering these desirable positions.
  4. And, at a time when aircraft OEMs fight hard to secure the workforce they need, the ability to appeal to the younger generation with sustainable aviation projects is critical to attracting the brightest minds to our industry. They want to be part of the solution. Raising the tax on one sector that provides some of the coolest jobs in aviation—across the board from engineers to marketers—is at best shortsighted and at worst a true crux for the industry.