CAE on March 5 opened its process for submissions into the second edition of the CAE Women in Flight scholarship program. This includes naming Southwest Airlines as its first airline partner for the 2020 edition of the program, which will see one candidate selected and awarded the scholarship to train with CAE. The company notes other airline partners will be announced in the upcoming months.
In 2019, in the first edition of the program, CAE awarded five scholarships to women who had that started on their journey to become pilots with one of CAE’s global airline partners, including: American Airlines, Aeroméxico, AirAsia, Cityjet and easyJet.
“Gender diversity continues to be a high-profile topic in aviation and, today, the industry is leaving half of its available pilot talent pool on the bench,” said Nick Leontidis, CAE’s group president of Civil Aviation Training Solutions. “We are committed to ensuring that our industry will make a difference and continue to offer these annual scholarships.”
Leontidis continues to explain Southwest Airlines, the largest domestic carrier in the U.S., is seeking more than 700 new professional pilots over the next 10 years. “There is an exciting future that awaits a new generation of female pilots, and we are proud to officially launch the second edition of the CAE Women in Flight scholarship program with Southwest Airlines’ Destination 225° program,” he said.
Upon successful completion of their ab-initio training program, CAE explains selected candidates will have the opportunity to begin building experience as flight instructors, with the intent to one day fly for Southwest Airlines.
