Advocacy Archives | Institute for Women Of Aviation Worldwide (iWOAW)

FAA medical certificate airman signature

Drone committee concurs with iWOAW and urges the FAA to adopt gender neutral language

July 19, 2021June 26, 2021

Since 2016, iWOAW has been a relentless and vocal advocate for removing verbal barriers to women inclusion in the air and space industry. That year, while the U.S. Marines were implementing gender-neutral personnel titles to diversify recruitment, the FAA was busy replacing Practical Test Standards with Airman Certification Standards. The Drone Advisory Committee sees the switch to gender neutral terminology as a step towards “modeling the leadership and behaviors that will build a more inclusive …

Sexist airline registration practices cause an aircraft incident

April 15, 2021April 12, 2021

Last July, the B737-800 pilots of a TUI Airways flight to Palma de Mallorca noticed discrepancies between the load sheet and the flight plan. On the load sheet, the take-off weight was 1600 kg less than the estimate on the flight plan and the passenger count indicated 38 more children than planned. After discussion, the crew decided to use the load sheet instead of the flight plan data to set the flight management system. As …

Gender gap in aviation at the U.S. Senate

U.S. Senate Calls to Address the Gender Gap in Aviation During the Week of March 8

March 23, 2021March 15, 2021

On March 4, 2021, Sen. Jacky Rosen [D-NV] introduced S.Res.96 to designate the week of March 8 to 14, 2021, as Women Of Aviation Workforce Week. The bi-partisan resolution was co-sponsored by Mr. Moran, Mr. Kelly, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Cornyn, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Marshall, Mrs. Fischer, Mr. Rounds, Mr. Cramer, Mr. Wicker, and Ms. Klobuchar. The Resolution was agreed to in Senate without amendment and an amended preamble by Unanimous Consent (text: CR …

Women can help build a better air and space industry post-Covid – if we invite them

March 1, 2021February 13, 2021

One year after Covid19 began racing across the world, wiping out lives and jobs, it might be surprising to advocate that promoting aviation and space opportunities to women and girls during Women Of Aviation Week 2021 is more important than ever. More women than men are looking for a new career path Statistics show that more women than men lost their jobs due to Covid19 – not just in the industry, everywhere. That means that …

Petition: Help eliminate gender-exclusive words that keep women out of aviation

March 1, 2021February 23, 2020

Gender-exclusive words signal group-based ostracism and act as entry barriers In 2020, female pilots look up Notices to Airmen before each flight, validate their Medical Certificate by signing in the Airman Signature field, and refer to Airman Certification Standards to prepare for pilot tests. The FAA’s website contains more than 40,000 references to Airman or Airmen; ICAO’s website lists close to 2,000 airmen references. It does not stop with these administrative organizations. Industry stakeholders and …