Scholarships Change Lives

Scholarship winners change the world for the better every day by taking steps to reach their full potential and contribute to the aviation industry in meaningful ways. Women in Aviation International is proud of its rich scholarship history and the impact it has had on the lives and careers of thousands of incredible women.

In 1995, the WAI scholarship program was launched with a $500 scholarship and the seeds for the future were planted and nourished to expand the awards each year. One year later, Northwest Airlines awarded the first of many flight type ratings, increasing the scholarship pool to $50,000. The first type rating was for the winner’s choice and went to a graduate student at Middle Tennessee State University. Not bashful, Jodi Osborne chose the Boeing 747 type rating, and when her name was announced at the conference luncheon she exuberantly entered the stage to receive her award.

Over the next five years, WAI’s scholarship program experienced meteoric growth, capped by 2001’s stunning tally of 106 scholarship awards worth over $900,000. Despite two recessions over the course of the 2000s, support for the scholarship program remained strong, with an average of 60 members each year receiving scholarships valued at nearly half a million dollars.

The program awarded its 1,000th scholarship in 2013, and in 2016, WAI Founder and President Dr. Peggy Chabrian announced the scholarship program surpassed the $10 million mark as the total amount of awards provided to winners over the course of the program.

While the flight scholarships grew, so did the management, maintenance, engineering, flight attendant, aircraft dispatch awards as well as various other scholarships, internships, and even a JT8D engine donation from FedEx Express.

Applications for 2018 scholarships closed on Nov. 13, 2017, and WAI will present 111 scholarships valued at $634,000 during its 29th Annual International Women in Aviation Conference on March 22-24, 2018, in Reno, NV.

The stories of how scholarships have helped to fulfill hopes and dreams are as varied and insightful as each of the recipients. To mark the 20th anniversary of the program, in 2016 WAI published WAI Scholarships Change Lives (online link to book https://www.wai.org/sites/default/files/assets/EducationKit/wai_schbook2016_web. pdf) to bring these stories to life and record them for others to be inspired to reach for the stars and encourage other members to apply for scholarships.

These additional funds helped Sonia Thiebeau in 2013 start her personal journey in aircraft maintenance at Lufthansa Technik, USAirways, and eventually American Airlines.

A more recent example is from Jayne Snider, a 2017 recipient of the Delta Air Lines Maintenance Technology scholarship. “The scholarship program WAI offers is continuing to have a huge impact on me as a student, and as I work toward landing my first job as a maintenance technician. I’m dreaming big, and I’m realizing that my dreams can become my reality.”

These are just a few stories that prove scholarships do fulfill hopes, dreams, type ratings, and all kinds of training that open up doors to a bright future.