16 Dec 2019

Wilderness Safari Company head of scheduler Ms Penelope Widmer has urged girls to explore and realise their full potential in the male-dominated aviation industry.

She made the remarks during the Girls in Aviation Day over the weekend at Maun Airport, stating that women and girls everywhere were undervalued, undermined and underestimated.

She  therefore called for equality.

The event, which was  organised by Women in Aviation Botswana, aimed to empower and motivate girls as well as chart a new path towards the realisation of equality and gender transformation in aviation.

She said it was disturbing as women and girls were still few in the aviation industry as only seven per cent of them were licenced pilots despite having many opportunities in the industry.

Ms Widmer said women and girls, like their counterparts,  were capable of any job in the industry and were also entitled to management positions.

She revealed that there were many misconceptions about women in the cockpit and in management position, adding that the only places many people felt safe seeing women was checking them in for a flight and serving them a drink as flight attendant.

Girls who get into cockpits, she said, were also discriminated against in many countries as males still saw them as less than equals and treated them as their servants.

She appreciated that some females stood the test and flourished in other countries,  citing the likes of Captain Julie Clark, who was one of the first women airline pilots to fly for a major airline in the 1970s.

Ms Widmer also acknowledged that a number of black female pilots was steadily growing across Africa and urged people to stop promoting stereotypes.

In Botswana, she said there was a strong female group in the aviation who had become role models to young girls as some were holding high positions in the industry.

She stressed the need to accelerate gender equality, advocate and advance the empowerment of women in the global aviation sector.

One of the local pilots, Ms Gorata Mabiza, who works for Wilderness Safari, said it was promising as more girls were penetrating the industry in an effort to diversify and to make it gender-balanced.

She shared that there were a lot of opportunities in the industry and urged aspiring girls to grab them.

In an interview, a pilot, Mr Liam Macmillan, who works for Helicopter Horizon, revealed that women were few in the industry, noting that there was no female pilot in his company.

He appreciated that some local companies had female pilots.

Furthermore, he stated that even in other sections of the aviation women were still dragging their feet, adding that they wanted to see more women in the industry as it was broad and had many opportunities besides piloting.

Mr Macmillan admitted that there were misconceptions that flying was not a safe profession, but refuted such, attesting that it was the greatest and safest job, adding that it was rare experience for engine to stop while on air.

The event was organised by Women in Aviation Botswana to educate girls on different opportunities they could take advantage of in the aviation industry and to show them how aircraft were operated and maintained.

Women in Aviation Botswana is  non-profit organisation of passionate and dedicated female aviators across the country that empowers, encourage, motivates and advocates for the advancement of women and girls in different aviation fields. Ends