We celebrate the recent Girls in Aviation Day and the incredible cover of Aviation for Women magazine in the May/June edition
September 27, 2016 San Diego, CA
On Saturday, September 24th, Women in Aviation celebrated the 5th annual International Girls in Aviation Day . The goal was to connect with teen girls to encourage them to pursue careers in aviation. Created by Women in Aviation International (WAI), the event is already in 10 countries and over 30 states and connects women who are already working in aviation with girls who are curious about aviation as a career.

Below is a look back at the 2016 WAI Conference in Nashville TN and the incredible interactions that led to this magazine cover.
Day 1, March 10 – John & Martha King along with King Schools CEO Barry Knutilla were greeted at Smyrna Airport by 2016 Martha King Scholarship for CFIs winner Lindsey Dreiling and her crew from Kansas Polytechnic School in Salina, Kansas. There was a brief tour of the Falcon and then the rain came down and the stories continued despite the rain setback.


Day 2, March 11 – John and Martha were surrounded at the morning General Session by sea of pink shirted Boeing employees. The enthusiasm of the crowd is genuine, passionate and inspiring.



Day 3, March 12 – This was an action packed day from the morning general session until the end of the evening. During the day, the K State team had a Meet and Greet in the conference headquarters with Dr. Chabrian and a nice chat with John and Martha.

Saturday night, WAI held their “$10 Million Banquet and WAI Pioneer Hall of Fame” event. The highlight was just after the Martha King WAI Scholarship for Female CFIs was announced, WAI President Dr. Peggy Chabrian exclaimed the scholarship was the one that put the WAI over the $10,000,000 total of scholarships awarded.



Day 4, March 13 – Sunday, the conference is over and it’s time to head home. Scholarship winner Lindsey was invited to catch a ride on the Falcon to her home airport in Salina, Kansas. Lindsey comments that she has never flown into Salina in anything other than a small plane or as an instructor. Lindsey got the full treatment; from the walk around to greeting her family at the airport. What a great trip but it’s always nice to be back in San Diego.



WAI members seek to inspire and stand for encouragement, continued education, and a whole lot of fun!
Thanks for publishing a picture of my granddaughter, Keegan Starkey. I just saw the picture for the first time. She enjoyed the Women in Aviation conference so much. She’ll be there again this year and she’s receiving a $5000 scholarship from United Airlines at the conference.