Rosie the Riveter Lives On

Sign up for a free subscription

By Kathryn B. Creedy

Rosie the Riveter remains alive and well and she spent last weekend in Dallas at the Inaugural Association for Women in Aviation Maintenance (AWAM) conference where 228 aviation maintenance technicians, students and instructors gathered in what can only be described as a history making event. Even so, the demand to attend was much higher, according to AWAM, which said it could have reached 250 if they didn’t have to cap it.

That may sound small in comparison with the thousands attending Women in Aviation International but, considering women AMTs only make up 2.89% of the AMT workforce, it takes on a much more significant role, especially for an inaugural conference.

Also impressive were the sponsors who were there to support AWAM with its inaugural conference. Sponsors which included: SkyWest, Republic, Delta, American Airlines, United, ATEC, US Aviation Academy, Sonic Tools, PSA Airlines, Piedmont, Flexjet, Aviation Institute of Maintenance, Aviation Workforce Solutions, NetJets, Endeavor Air, GoJet, Alaska Air Group – Hawaiian, Alaska and Horizon, JetPubs, VP Aviation and the Embraer Foundation. Many are powerful companies who are giving their stamp of approval on AWAM.

“Think about it,” said AWAM President Stacey Rudser. “I haven’t checked with Guinness, but I think we may have set a record of women AMTS all in one place.”

Indeed, leaders at the conference want to continuing doubling the number of women AMTs and A&Ps so, in the next 10 years, they constitute 50% of workforce.

“We have half as many technicians as we need and we are ignoring half the population,” said Aviation Institute of Maintenance President Emeritus Joel English, who hosted the event in the AIM hangar. “We need to make women aware of the opportunities and we need to ensure they blossom in the profession. They are doing so already in front of our eyes. If we can continue to double, we’ll go from three to six% then to 12% then to 24% and before long you are at 48% and that’s half the workforce.”

The conference kicked off with a sneak peek at a documentary — featuring many of the attendees — called Airworthy which depicted not just the lives women lead as an aviation maintenance technician but how the career changed their lives and that of their families. It was a heartfelt salute to women in aviation maintenance.

“It has been my honor and privilege to share an industry sneak peek of AIRWORTHY with a room full of women mechanics at the AWAM conference in Dallas,” said Director Maria Peek. “I was deeply moved by the response from the very best critics imaginable-the women who ensure our planes are truly airworthy. Their encouragement affirmed the very heart of this story: that representation matters, and that courage can change the course of an industry and redefine what is possible for the next generation. We have submitted the film to several top festivals, and hope to premier it in just a few months.  I cannot wait to share this story with the public and see others dare to go after their dreams as a result.” 

And, if it gets into every school in the nation we will achieve that 50% that much faster!

We Can Do It

If there were ever a time when Rosie’s message – we can do it – gained new resolve it was during the AWAM meeting where students from aviation maintenance schools mingled with their college counterparts, newly minted A&P certificate holders and veteran mechanics who founded the organization in 1997.

“My colleagues are my strength,” Victoria Deveraux from American Airlines’s FACES employee empowerment group, told the gathering. “The main thing we talk about is troubleshooting. They come to my aid, and our aircraft are safer for it. I found a team who will celebrate with me in my highs and lift me up when I’m down. Know that you are more than a DEI statistic. We are the future and if we up and left, the entire industry would know our worth. It’s our responsibility to clear the runways. By our work, we show the next generation that no matter who they are or where they come from, they can do it.”

That’s the power of having a tribe and the same can be said of AWAM and leading the charge was Rudser who, English noted, was AIM’s first female graduate, supported by AWAM’s founding members.

Then there was a graduate of Aviation High School in Queens, Evie Garces, who rose through the ranks at American to become Vice President of Line Maintenance, who never conceived of holding such an important operational post.

“I have 125 female technicians at American out of 10,000,” she told the opening reception. “I want to double that. It is no longer about being perfect. It’s about being intentional. We all have a role in inspiring women to become technicians. That’s how I perceive our mission. We need to pay it forward. I want my five-year-old to know she has choices.”

During the American Airlines sponsored reception at the CR Smith Museum, Garces recounted her career, her many doubts when offered management positions, the worries over work-life balance as she had her daughter, Sophie. They were all challenges filled with doubts but, in the end, she leaned in.

“I turned down some roles because it felt like I didn’t have a choice,” she said. “Do you think men have to make that choice? Why did I think I had to make a choice? In the end I just wanted to be the best I could, the best mechanic, the best supervisor. One thing I missed back then is you have to give back and that’s why I’m so active in encouraging more women in aviation maintenance. You have to see yourself in these roles and you have to see women in authority. We are here because of the great men beside us who have been our mentors, so you need sponsors to speak up for you when you are not at the table. Our responsibility is to make ourselves available.”

Deveraux said the job and the industry is not for everyone. “You have to work twice as hard as the men,” she said. “We are misunderstood and underrepresented but we do it with our heart, blood, tears and soul. We need to step out of our comfort zone and volunteer. We have turned a passion into a skill and our expertise into a career.”

Of aviation’s notorious culture, Veronica Leacock Borchardt who hails from United’s Calibrate program perhaps said it best. “We spent generations making strong women, but we didn’t prepare the men for those strong women.”

Navigation 101

Indeed, much of the conference was designed to help women not only navigate but change that culture. One of its most important sessions was role playing the cringeworthy moments experienced by veteran women AMTs and how to deal with them. That story is here.

Several veterans explained the reason for the session was to do what Women in Aviation International would not let them do, an important lesson for that organization given the intense audience interest. Members have been pushing for more frank discussions on sexual harassment during WAI, but it has only happened twice in its long history – during the Me-Too Movement and two years ago at Orlando. It has not been repeated. Indeed, that was one of the catalysts for AWAM developing its own conference.

“Each of our members come from difference experiences, have had different challenges and show different strengths,” said Rudser. “We started as a social organization with newsletters and seminars at WAI. We built our scholarship from its roots in 2002 to hundreds of thousands of dollars and hundreds of live impacted. We wanted the freedom to not need permission to talk about the hard stuff. Today we work with Aviation Technician Education Council in Washington on aviation maintenance issues at its annual flyin. We served on the Women in Aviation Advisory Board where we brought a unique perspective. That 2.89% is only certificate holders so we don’t know the actual numbers of women in aviation maintenance.

“AWAM changed my life with a scholarship in 2013, and it invited me to WAI as part of that scholarship,” she continued. “Walking into an AWAM event is like a family reunion that I didn’t know I had. AWAM has not only helped me navigate my career but many of the veterans were mothers and professional guidance soon turned into helping me juggling a family and that work-life balance that doesn’t exist. By working together and supporting each other we can be an industry changing force for good.”

Mentors

During the conference women spoke of their mentors, mostly men, who urged them to think big about their careers or their dads who taught them how to repair a car because he didn’t want to raise a helpless female. They spoke of their hard road – working the midnight shift while going to school and being a mother, like Laura Spolar, a founding member of the United Chix Fix Team, who spoke of taking risks, telling one would-be employer she’d work for free if he’d document her hours.

“I truly believe what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” she told the audience as she keynoted the conference. “When I arrived in Orlando, the boss grabbed my hand, flipped it over because he wanted to see if I were a real mechanic. The guys were okay, but management didn’t like women in the workforce. I would do it all over, but I don’t want you young ladies to go through what we went through.

“We need to advocate and be out there,” Spolar continued. “We need to actively go out, encourage young women and help those coming into our profession and let them know they need to be here, we belong here, and we deserve to be here. We need to educate our coworkers to be kind and respectful. The biggest thing to understand is when someone like a pilot gives you a hard time, remember they need you. You don’t care what they’ve flown. Tell them you will give them an airworthy aircraft because that’s my job.

“I see the industry changing because there are women out there who care and who are fighting for you,” she concluded.

Support Each Other

She urged the audience to always have each other’s back at work. “We can’t afford to be catty,” she said. “We need male allies and it’s important to appreciate each other and lift each other up. Walk beside me and I will push you to go first. We need to change the face of our industry, and we need to make it prettier. If you don’t believe in yourself, no one else will. We’ve got to be our own biggest fans.”

Several speakers noted women make better mechanics because of their natural disposition toward attention to detail and methodical work ethic.

“And, we take directions,” she quipped.

“We need to get to the point where women are not just tolerated but are respected for their expertise and recognized for their skill,” said Madison Hampton.

Rudser expressed her vision for the future. “As I look out on all of you, I know, in my heart of hearts, we will not stay at 3%,” she said. “We will change the future, and we will do it together. You belong here, you earned it and you deserve it.”

Complete Coverage of the Inaugural AWAM Conference is here:

I Love the Smell of a Pregnant Woman in the Morning

A&P Value Goes Well Beyond Turning Wrenches

Analysis: Building An Equitable Workplace with the Help of Male Allies

Know Your Rights, Know How the Compliance System Works