One hundred thirty-six mostly Black and Brown tween and teen girls, decked in khakis and colored polos that represented their schools and organizations in Atlanta, sat subdued in the terminal seats, either quietly chatting with each other or looking down at their phones — an expected level of energy, considering their collective adventure started before the sun rose.
The students came together, thanks to Delta Air Lines’ ninth annual Women Inspiring the Next Generation, or WING, Flight celebration, on Sept. 20 in honor of Girls in Aviation Day. The goal of the event, which started as a partnership with the airline and Women in Aviation International, is to introduce the girls to careers in aviation, from flight attendant to pilot to space flight.
“Many aviation and aerospace jobs are historically male-dominated, so getting the best talent for Delta – especially from underrepresented groups – has to start early,” said Beth Poole, Delta’s General Manager of Pilot Development and WING Flight co-founder. “The WING Flight is an opportunity to introduce young women to career opportunities, to show them what they can be when they work hard and dream big, and to emphasize how positively and profoundly women impact our business and the world of aviation.”
That was the word Elise Breazeale, a pupil at The Ron Clark Academy, got from her teacher and chaperone about the event.
“[She] texted me, [saying], ‘Oh, I have an opportunity for you,’ ” Breazeale told rolling out. “I’m really interested in space, such as Apollo 11, so I decided to come. It’s definitely an opportunity I can benefit from.” Breazeale said her scientific interest is in genetics and biology and that she eventually wants to get into physical therapy.
Neela Sneed, who attends Morrow High School, already knew the WING Flight was a part of her career trajectory into aviation. She told rolling out that her mother introduced her to aviation and emphasized the scarcity of Black women in the field. The high schooler said she moved from Las Vegas to Atlanta so she could attend school in the Southern city in order to get into Delta’s program.
“I plan to be a pilot,” Sneed said, “and this is going to help bring me into the world of aviation and to meet people who are going to help me strive and inspire me to meet my goals with the hours and the experience in the aviation field.” Sneed said she’s currently in ground school, in which a person learns the foundations of being a pilot, such as navigation, direction, air space and other subjects.
The female students, chosen from nine schools and organizations with a focus on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) — many with whom Delta partners as part of the airline’s support of STEM programming in the Atlanta Public School System who were able to select the participants — spoke with and heard from Delta’s female pilots and other female employees while in the terminal.
One of Delta’s pilots, Hiwot Taddesse, chatted with a cluster of the attendees before talking with rolling out about her enthusiasm for WING Flight.
“Delta told me about it,” Taddesse recalled. “I’ve seen lots of advertising in the past, but [when] Delta told me about it, I had to jump in!”
The pilot, who’s been with the airline a year and a half and was a part of Delta Connections for 17 years, said she knew she wanted to fly at 5 years old and started on her path at 13 in civil air patrol. Then, “someone came to my school and talked [to my class]. I didn’t how to do it; I didn’t know any pilots, and there was [no] internet. So, I kept my ears open and grabbed any opportunity to fly.”
Then, after the sunrise pinkened the sky and the Delta staff revved up the cadre of girls before boarding the plane, the flight kicked off with a special water cannon salute, conducted by the Atlanta Fire Department, before students enjoyed breakfast, looked through bookbags stuffed with Delta goodies and passed around friendship bracelets gifted by Delta – which featured Delta widget charms that were 3D printed by Delta’s TechOps team. Most importantly, women piloted, staffed and crewed the air journey.
The student-filled plane touched down at Cape Canaveral, the renowned home of the NASA’s launches for space flights — this being the third consecutive year of Delta being the only commercial airline to land at the famous site. After the group deplaned at the Kennedy Space Center, the thrilled tweens and teens engaged with NASA leaders at the “Women in STEM” panel discussion and toured the Space Shuttle Atlantis® and Apollo/Saturn V Center — which featured interactive space exhibits — at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.
Considering that Delta’s employment portal crashed because so many people applied for the open flight attendant positions — along with the reality that, as of 2022, 14.2 percent of flight attendants are Black, less that 1 percent of pilots are Black women and only four Black women have flown into space — this program is a great way to help these young female students envision themselves in the air, if not in space.
“If you follow your passion, you’ll get there,” Taddesse stated.
