At the Women in Aviation Conference in 1993, a group of corporate pilots, dispatchers, technicians and other business aviation professionals gathered to swap stories and advice on professional development in their segment of the aviation industry. For more than 25 years, Women in Corporate Aviation has fulfilled that role—and delivered not only mentorship, but scholarships too, for women interesting in furthering their capabilities within whichever aviation discipline they pursue.
At the 2019 NBAA-BACE in Las Vegas, WCA gave out its Fall Scholarships to a round of deserving women who will use those funds to obtain a new type rating, gain dispatch or aviation manager certification, or pursue maintenance training. Awards went out for cabin crew as well—there’s a significant niche for corporate flight attendants. More than 100 scholarships in total have been awarded over the years, with this year’s value on the awards topping $64,000.
The big winner in the room was Nobi Buntin, who won a Pilatus PC-12NG type rating donated by FlightSafety International. Buntin’s story is like many of those who change careers later in life. She’s not wasting any time—at the lunch she let the WCA membership know that she had taken a break from her training to come accept the award. WCA also delivers scholarships in the spring at EBACE, to applicants generally from the EU and other regions.
