Have you ever thought about how much work it takes to keep a modern aircraft flying? For most of us the sights and sounds of the modern aviation industry are commonplace in our lives. What we do not see is the thousands of hours of maintenance completed by skilled technicians. This reality is one that Gloria Madrid is getting to see firsthand as an aircraft maintenance technician working for the largest aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) company in North American, AAR.
Gloria’s story is already one that is exciting as she enters the career field of technical aviation where women make up only 2.4 percent of the workforce worldwide. She is also part of the first group of women hired though a new program that AAR has introduced. One of the goals of this program is to increase the number of women in the technical aviation field and was the brainchild of Ryan Goertzen, the Vice President of Maintenance Workforce Development for AAR. As opposed to traditional hiring practices this new program sought to hire a group of ten women and have them begin working in the industry at the same facility in Miami, Florida. Ryan said, “I’ve never had ten females hired on at the same time in any pilot class or any maintenance class.” One reason AAR chose their Miami facility was they already have several women who have established themselves in the industry there to serve as role models and mentors.
AAR has been working with the Lumina Foundation to develop a grant program that has three basic initiatives. First, get more women into technical careers in aviation which they hope to achieve with the group hiring approach that Gloria is part of. Second, they want to help military members transition into a civilian job market and third to develop programs for their people to earn their technical credentials in areas like aviation sheet metal or avionics in less time. AAR has also partnered with researchers from the University of Nebraska Omaha who will interface with the group of women that have been hired and help the company find ways to improve how they hire, train and retain women in the aviation field.
Joel English is the Executive Vice President of the Aviation institute of Maintenance where Gloria was a student. He was excited to be a part of this opportunity, “I raised my hand and said, 'Wow… I would love for half or more of the women in this cohort to come from the Aviation Institute of Maintenance campuses.'” Gloria received a letter from the school looking for women willing to relocate to Florida. She said, “Florida is where I wanted to go… That’s me." She was one of 10 women selected from 110 applicants nationwide thanks to her stand out performance while at the Aviation Institute and her willingness to relocate. The Miami facility supports United and Southwest Airlines and Gloria is going to begin her time there with the Southwest team.
Gloria said she is excited to learn new things and wants to be “taught the right way.” She has certainly proven herself so far with her time at the Aviation Institute of Maintenance, where she graduated with an “A” average. Across its 13 campuses the Institute boasts that 11 percent of their students are female. That number is even higher at the Norfolk Campus with 17 percent of the student body being women. Ashley Odin is the Executive Director of the Norfolk Campus and she attributes their success in drawing such a large female student body to the inclusive atmosphere and the community outreach that the Institute is engaged in. Gloria is going to begin her work after in-depth training on either the A320 aircraft or the Boeing 737, a far cry from the person who started at the Aviation Institute of Maintenance with no prior mechanical experience. Congratulations!
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