Sky’s the limit
Women in aviation say ...
McClatchy Newspapers
FORT WORTH, Texas
Early in their lives, Cathy Ferrie and Karlene Petitt were each inspired to follow very different career paths than most other girls and young women — then or even now.
In high school in Connecticut, Ferrie saw the movie “Top Gun.” She was inspired, and not by Tom Cruise. “As soon as I saw those aircraft tumbling in combat, I said, ‘I want to be a part of something like that.’”
At age 9, Petitt’s friends wanted to be stewardesses. She decided to become an airline pilot and wasn’t the least dissuaded when girlfriends told her that only men were pilots.
Both have gone on to accomplish their dreams in aviation, a field where there are still relatively few women but many opportunities.
A strong math and science student who thought she wanted to be a heart surgeon, Ferrie made a career course adjustment and earned a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering at Syracuse University. She added master’s and doctoral degrees from Georgia Tech before joining Bell Helicopter.
In less than 15 years at Bell, Ferrie, 40, has risen through the engineering ranks to become director of the company’s Xworx research and development facility in Arlington, Texas.
Already, Ferrie says, her time at Bell has been everything she hoped for. “It’s been even more, actually. It’s been really interesting [with] great people, interesting challenges, working to find solutions.”
Ferrie oversees a staff that works with Bell’s engineering teams to turn concepts and engineering drawings into new technology that can improve aircraft performance and safety and can reduce costs.
Xworx, Bell’s answer to the famed Lockheed Skunk Works, will play a key role in developing the technology and manufacturing techniques to make the company’s aircraft designs, including the recently revealed 525 Relentless helicopter.
“What’s great about [the job] is building teams and working towards an end goal and bringing everybody’s input together to make sure you have the right solution,” Ferrie said.
Petitt, 49, didn’t deviate from her dream. She saved money from baby-sitting, waiting tables at Denny’s and other odd jobs, and at 16 paid for her first flying lesson at an airport near her home in the Seattle area. Thirty-three years later, she has worked for several airlines, trained pilots and now flies Airbus A330 jets on prime U.S. and international routes for Delta Air Lines.
She also raised three daughters and has written a novel based on life in the tumultuous airline industry.
Petitt, too, says hers has been a fantastic, if at times bumpy, journey in a business where the cockpit seats are usually filled by strong-willed, Type-A men.
“It wasn’t easy. I always felt I had to be better and work harder than the guys,” Petitt said. The reward has been learning to fly new airplanes, training others to fly and traveling internationally.
“I value experiences in life and education,” she said. “I like learning and doing new things. In hindsight, I got exactly what I value in life through my career.
Anna Dietrich is trying to revolutionize how people travel. Dietrich, who has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in aeronautical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is a co-founder of Terrafugia, a startup that aims to build an aircraft that can be driven on the road.
Dietrich said she wants to spread the message to young women about opportunities in aviation ranging from flying planes to starting companies. “It’s so important to get the role models of women in this industry out there.”
A century after the first woman earned her pilot license in the U.S., women say they still fill very few of the hundreds of thousands of jobs in aviation, but there are opportunities.
“Companies are very much figuring out diversity is a very good thing,” said Lynette Ashland, a director of the Association for Women in Aviation Maintenance.
With 20 years of working on aircraft, “turning wrenches,” Ashland is now a manager for Avtrak, which keeps maintenance records for regional airlines and other companies.
Anna Romer, 26, said she always knew she wanted to be a mechanic like her father. She chose airplanes to work on, got a community college degree in aircraft maintenance and went to work. Now she inspects jet engines for Pratt & Whitney.
“My goal is to be an inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration,” Romer said.
The careers are rewarding, if challenging.
In the turbulent airline industry, employees must meet productivity demands and may face pay and benefit cuts.
Still, “it’s a great job,” said Christine Daniel, a 13-year American Airlines pilot and 10-year Air Force veteran. “It’s challenging. But I still love to fly.”
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