Aerospace Diary

Neelam Mathews Sept 21, 2017 A recent visit to Jaipur Airport as part of  Girls in Aviation Day rather well organised by the WAI India chapter, made me think. We 'older guys' or 'seniors'  as we are often referred to- by the way hate the reference-not because I'm not one, but because it gives a connotation that we know it all. Yet, do we? All our events are to give 'Gyan' or knowledge to the millennials but do we stop and think, we need to learn from them. Because if we do not, how can we market ideas or anything to them? At Jaipur, we did it the other way round and the learning was immense. My sincere thanks to the smart disciplined girls and their teacher of Subhodh Public School that could teach us metro types a thing or two about how to queue, not to push, be disciplined and end up being at peace and yet reach their target. Girls, if you read this, the world is tough- but please don't change! And all the best in every job you take in future-...

SINGAPORE AIR SHOW AEROSPACE Lockheed Martin Encourages Singapore Girls into Aerospace Careers by  Neelam Mathews  -  February 17, 2016, 2:35 PM Following up on a United Nations resolution last year to establish February 11 as the annual day to promote women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics ( STEM ), Lockheed Martin (Chalet  CS02 ) is trying to encourage promising female students to get excited about the subjects. In partnership with  UN  Women (Singapore),  LM  ran an afternoon session “Girls Take Flight” on February 15 for some 250 female students from 10-to-15 schools in Singapore to come together with women who were leaders in their fields in an effort to inculcate an interest for careers in  STEM -related industries. Women remain an “invisible force” in the industry. Industry-leading speakers addressing the audience included: Lt. Col. Carrie M. Howe, Marine Attaché to the Republic...

Neelam Mathews Nov 20, 2015 NEW DELHI: In 1998 India released a stamp to celebrate woman in aviation, an important recognition for this ofttimes invisible force. Today, there is a storm of motivation brewing to do more to educate, train and recognize women in aviation, as this journalist recently learned in the green environs of the Dusit Devarana Hotel on the outskirts of New Delhi. There, a group of women has launched the India chapter of Women in Aviation, International (WAI). CJ Collins, who serves as the FAA senior representative in New Delhi covering South Asia, is the brainchild behind WAI’s launch in India. “I was at a WAI event and what hit me was India’s neighbor UAE had a chapter. Why not here?” A couple of chance meetings with Radha Bhatia, chairperson at Indian travel and technology services provider Bird Group, “where we were two lone women” in an all-male crowd, led to their mutual resolve to launch WAI’s 147th Ch...

Neelam Mathews March 12, 2015 Detailed figures of women in aviation who hold US flight, mechanic (aircraft engineers) and dispatcher certificates and licenses are available because the Federal Aviation Administration is the only regulatory body to break out numbers by gender. The latest statistics on the FAA Airman Certification web site shows the number of women in commercial aviation – who hold commercial certificates and airline transport ratings – is rising. Where women just a decade ago made up 2% of airline transport rated (ATP) pilots, they now make up 4%. “That’s double in a decade. University flight schools in the US are typically 10-15% female in their student composition. But many of those students, particularly the women, choose different careers,” says Amy Laboda, one of 16 founding board members (emeritus) of Women In Aviation International (WAI), a nonprofit organization dedicated to  providing networking, mentoring and scholarship opportunities ...