Thirteen new scholarships have been added to the roster to be awarded at the 22nd Annual Women in Aviation International Conference, held next year in Reno, Nevada, on Feb. 24-26, 2011. The new scholarships are valued at $92,250.
Dozens of scholarship opportunities for 2011 are posted on the organization’s website. New for this year are AirTran Airways Maintenance Scholarship; American Airlines Veteran’s Initiative Scholarship; Changing the World; Delta Air Lines Airbus A 320 type rating (two separate scholarships); DTC Duat Travel Award scholarship; PilotMall.com CFI Scholarship; SAFE Scholarship; WAI Initial Helicopter Scholarship; and WAI Oshkosh Chapter Spirit of Flight Scholarship.
“Our scholarships reflect the diversity of our membership. We have scholarships for members of all ages and stages of their aviation lives – from professional crewmembers to people who are flying simply for fun,” said WAI President Dr. Peggy Chabrian. “We have academic scholarships, flight training scholarships and scholarships that are focused on a particular career within aviation such as dispatchers and aeronautical engineers. Since the inception of our scholarship program, $6.5 million has been disbursed.”
In addition to these other new scholarships, Jim Campbell, president of Aero-News Network, is sponsoring two $1,000 scholarships in memory of U.S. Aerobatic Team Pilot and IAC President Vicki Cruise. These scholarships will provide flight training for a private pilot to undertake basic aerobatic or unusual attitude flight training or for further training for skills already undertaken in that flight training regimen.
Also new this year, Able Flight will offer a $2,500 flight training scholarship for a WAI member with physical disabilities. Able Flight helps prospective pilots who are physically challenged to achieve their dreams of becoming a pilot. Of the five Able Flight scholarships already awarded, two candidates are active pilots, one is in training, one has yet to begin and one will resume training once a medical condition allows.
“We’d like to grow the number of scholarships significantly by working with Women in Aviation to increase awareness of this avenue for women with disabilities to become pilots,” said Charles H. Stites, executive director of Able Flight. “I applaud Women in Aviation, International on its success in securing funding for scholarships for women to enter aviation; WAI’s track record is nothing short of amazing, especially in such difficult times.”
Qualifications for all scholarships are available online. Scholarships are open to both women and men, and the only universal requirement is that the scholarship applicant must be a WAI member. Scholarship applications may be downloaded online, and all applications must be postmarked by Nov. 15, 2010.
