Organizers report that 120 venues around the world hosted activities during the sixth annual Women Of Aviation Worldwide Week, a global aviation awareness week for girls of any age, founded and managed by the Institute for Women Of Aviation Worldwide (iWOAW). A total of 44,000 people participated.
With 27 venues, France led the way for most venues in one single country, closely followed by Turkey with 26. The United States, Canada, and Australia join the top five countries. New Zealand, Papa New Guinea, Angola, and Guyana celebrated the week for the first time.
Roughly half of the official activities were organized by flight schools and flying clubs. Noticeable was the increase in aerospace factory visits, control tower tours, aviation university department open houses, and aviation museums special event offerings, organizers noted.
On Pink Paper Plane Day, March 8, 1,343 individuals working in teams ranging from 15 to more than 500 built 11,447 Pink Paper Planes within 15 minutes towards iWOAW’s Guinness World Records attempts.
The Fly It Forward Challenge, a call to action urging pilots to help close the flight introduction gap between genders by introducing girls of all ages to flight in a small aircraft during The Week, attracted 8,418 girls this year.
This year, South Texas International at Edinburg Airport wins the challenge’s most coveted title, “Most Female Pilot Friendly Airport Worldwide,” Dianna Stanger of Texas was named “Most Dedicated Female Pilot Worldwide” and Yves Barbeau of Quebec, Canada, “Most Supportive Male Pilot Worldwide.”
Runner-ups include Canada’s Lachute and Peterborough airports in the airport category, American Yasmina Platt and Australian Brianna Christian in the female pilot category, and Canadians Hubert Wren and Ron Haslam in the male pilot category.
iWOAW also awards “Most Productive Organizer Worldwide” titles annually to individuals who produce the largest multi-faceted flying or non-flying events. Marguerite Varin of Lachute, Quebec, Canada, won the title in the flying event category and Tusas Engine Industries Inc. (TEI) of Eskisehir, Turkey, in the non-flying event category.
Trophies will be awarded to the winners on May 26, 2016 in Vancouver, Canada, during iWOAW’s first annual symposium.
Since 2010, the annual celebration has inspired girls and women to consider careers and hobbies in the air and space industry by the thousands. Consistently, 60% to 75% of them declare that they have decided to join the industry as a result of attending the week’s activities.
The seventh Annual Women Of Aviation Worldwide Week will be held March 6-12, 2017.