Featured image: JetBlue

JetBlue Brings “Fly Like a Girl” Event to Boston Students

DALLAS — On Saturday, October 19, JetBlue (B6) held its tenth annual Fly Like a Girl event in Boston, one of the airline's primary focal cities. 

Fly Like a Girl provides girls with direct access to learn about various professions in the aviation industry from B6’s female crewmembers, who are instrumental in the airline's success on the ground and in the air. 

The event, organized in collaboration with the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) and JetBlue's Women in Flight Crewmember Resource Group (CRG), Diversity, Equity and Inclusion team, Corporate Social Responsibility team, and JetBlue Foundation, supported over 100 local youth aged 8-14 as they participated in the airline’s programs to explore and motivate careers in aviation.

JetBlue crewmembers from various workgroups participated in a succession of educational stations, demonstrations, and hands-on activities during this year's Fly Like a Girl event. Students interacted with various airline personnel, such as technical operators, brand design supervisors, and ten female pilots. 

Additionally, attendees were granted access to the baggage and cargo compartments of an Airbus A321 aircraft and permitted to inspect the ground operations facilities.

Joanna Geraghty is chief executive officer of JetBlue. Photo: Helwing Villamizar/Airways

Female Representation in U.S. Aviation

JetBlue, the sole airline in the United States headed by a female CEO, boasts a female representation of over 30% at the officer and director levels. Additionally, the JetBlue Gateways pilot and technician programs breaks traditional barriers.

Females comprise over 25% of all Gateways participants and nearly “50% in Gateways designed to provide career development for current JetBlue crewmembers.”

“We are proud to be Boston’s favorite airline, and there is no better way to celebrate continued growth in our Northeast network than with an impactful event for the region’s next generation of aviation professionals,” said Ursula Hurley, president of JetBlue Foundation and JetBlue’s chief financial officer. 

“This year’s Fly Like a Girl signifies 10 years of breaking down barriers of entry into aviation for underrepresented groups. We are excited to provide opportunities like this through the JetBlue Foundation, which champions diversity in STEM education and creates career pathways into our exciting industry.”

JetBlue's event in Boston was supported by local and government partners, including U.S. Representative Ayanna Pressley and Mia Healy-Waldron, Deputy Director of Aviation Customer Service at Massport.

JetBlue’s Fly Like a Girl event follows its recent announcement to invest and grow across New England, adding 20% more seats in the region by this winter. Learn more at jetbluefoundation.org.

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David H. Stringer, the History Editor for AIRWAYS Magazine, has chronicled the story of the commercial aviation industry with his airline history articles that have appeared in AIRWAYS over two decades. Here, for the first time, is a compilation of those articles.

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