Six Embry-Riddle alumnae were recently named to the newly-formed Women in Aviation Advisory Board (WIAAB) by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao. They include Crystal L. Barrois (’04), Dana Donati (’19), Kathryn Fraser (’18), Laura Benson Jones (’03), Rebecca Lutte (’91), and Col. Martha Morris (’02).
The WIAAB, chaired by former U.S. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, will develop strategies and recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to explore opportunities for encouraging and supporting female students and aviators to pursue a career in aviation, while promoting organizations and programs providing education, training, mentorship, outreach, and recruitment of women for positions in the aviation industry. The 30-member WIAAB will assess education, training, mentorship, outreach, and recruitment of women in the aviation industry.
Below, we tell you more about each of them and what they hope to accomplish on the WIAAB.
A Delta Air Lines First Officer and former manager of pilot development for Delta Air Lines, based in Atlanta, Georgia, Barrois said she recognized the need to improve policies for female pilots and increase diversity in the pilot hiring and leadership pipelines. In her pilot development role, she oversaw the ASCEND program, as well as the Delta Propel Company and Community Career Path Programs. As a child, she said she never considered being a pilot, because of a lack of female role models. After meeting a member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) at an air show, she transferred from another university to Embry-Riddle to complete a degree in aeronautical science.
“I am thrilled that the FAA is taking action to increase female participation in the aviation industry,” she said. “By collaborating with industry professionals on the WIAAB, I hope to put our heads together to produce action items for corporations, the U.S. military, aviation professional groups, and others, regarding:
“Just like I had to see someone who looked like me to realize that I could be a pilot, I hope to brainstorm and help implement ideas that could potentially make that dream possible for any young person out there who might share the same passion.”
The general manager and director of academic programs at LIFT Academy, a Republic Airways Company, Donati is removing barriers of entry to flight training. Prior to her current role, she held leadership positions in both the airlines and aviation higher education. She is an airline transport pilot and certified flight instructor with type ratings on the Embraer 170 and Dash 8-Q400.
Regarding her role on the WIAAB, Donati said, “There are many aviation organizations doing great things in our communities and our country. Unfortunately if you do not grow up in an aviation community, you may not know about all the awesome opportunities that may exist. I hope to contribute to strategies that create, outline and identify the steps a young female can take to accomplish a career in aviation.”
Prior to joining Joby Aviation as head of safety, Fraser served as Uber’s head of aviation policy, where she worked with regulators and policymakers worldwide to make urban air mobility a reality. Additionally, Fraser worked for three years with the FAA in the office of accident investigation and prevention, and spent time as the director of safety for the General Aviation Manufacturers Association. She is also a commercial pilot and certified flight instructor. Fraser’s grandfather was a B-17 pilot in World War II, which influenced her love and appreciation for aviation. “I wanted to be an astronaut when I was a kid, but settled on being a pilot.”
“[As a member of the WIAAB], I want to make the aviation industry a welcoming environment for all people. There's so much that can be done to ensure more women find the aviation industry a viable option."
Benson Jones serves as chair of the board for Flight Club 502, a youth-based non-profit in Louisville, Kentucky. The non-profit focuses on using aerospace and aviation lessons to teach youth, ages 8-21, the importance of STEM/Next Generation learning, decision-making skills, leadership and patriotism. Benson Jones is a certificated flight instructor and an airline transport pilot, with type ratings in Challenger Jet and Citation Jet aircraft. As a teenager, she aspired to be “like Sally Ride.” Her father took a second job to pay for her flight lessons. “It was life changing for me and has given me the opportunity to use lessons in aerospace to positively influence and change lives,” she said.
Regarding the WIAAB, Benson Jones said, “We can use lessons in aerospace and aviation (like Flight Club 502) as a vehicle to empower our girls (and boys) to do better in STEM courses. We are using aviation to connect what they are learning in the classroom, as it applies to life. We'd love to move the needle on increasing the number of girls pursuing careers in aerospace."
A tenured associate professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha Aviation Institute, Lutte is active in the general aviation community and is an aircraft owner and a current pilot. Her flight credentials include commercial pilot single and multi-engine, and flight instructor. Lutte is nationally recognized as an authority on the topic of women in the aviation workforce. Her research on outreach and recruitment, and retention of women in aviation has resulted in many publications and invitations to speak. Her current research includes a survey of 1,400 women in aviation on effective outreach, recruitment and retention factors.
“There are significant gaps in the number of women in aviation in most fields but particularly in professional pilots (5%) and maintenance technicians (2.4%). The numbers have changed little in the last 30 years and we can do better,” she said. “We need to take a hard look at the reasons for these gender gaps and develop new strategies that not only address these barriers but also focus on the factors that draw women into aviation.”
Morris is an accomplished pilot with a wide range of experience from the airlines to public service, emergency services, flight instruction and corporate aviation, with more than 21,000 flight hours. She is also a first officer for JetBlue Airways and a 39-year volunteer with the Civil Air Patrol (CAP). At CAP, she’s served in command roles from the group to wing level and is an accomplished mission instructor and check pilot, working with both youth and adults. She recently finished a four-year stint as commander of the Arizona Wing, which includes 1,300 members and 22 squadrons.
Her older cousin, Lee Morris (’80), attended Embry-Riddle’s Arizona campus. “He took me for my first small plane ride in an Embry-Riddle Grumman Tiger,” she said. When she wanted to earn a master’s degree in aviation, Morris naturally looked to Embry-Riddle. But the selling point was, at the time, Embry-Riddle was the only university offering a distance learning program, Morris said. “My experiences were top-notch.”
Representing the CAP on the WIAAB, she said, “My hope is to give back some of what I have been fortunate enough to receive from the world of flying. Yes, I still like to fly.”