News
Canadian Women in Aviation

The CWIA Conference 2009 Planning Committee is very excited and busy this year planning the 10th Biennial Canadian Women in Aviation Conference 2009, set for Jun 3-6 at the Coast Edmonton Plaza Hotel, in Edmonton Alberta.

The Canadian Women in Aviation Conference has grown steadily over the years, and there are approximately 200 delegates expected. Not just pilots are invited to hear the many speakers from all aspects of aviation at the conference, but any woman interested in aviation, or man who is supportive of women in aviation careers are welcome to attend.  Air Traffic Controllers, military load masters, navigators, airport & airline management, and people brand new to aviation will attend and take advantage of the networking, learning, sharing and job opportunities they’ll find at this biannual conference.

It was only in 1973 that the first female was hired to fly for an airline in North America.  The ratio of airline transport pilots who are women has reached an all time high – up to the lofty heights of 4%!  For every 25 airline pilots in Canada, only 1 is female.  So as the 1990’s were dawning, some women involved in aviation as a career and as a hobby decided it was time to bring these intrepid aviatrixes together to network, learn from each other, and have some fun. 

Previous conferences have been held at:  1991 Fort Langley BC, 1993 Fort Langley BC, 1995 Hamilton, ON, 1997 Vancouver BC, 1999 Belleville ON, 2001 Halifax NS, 2003  London ON, 2005 Ottawa ON, and most recently 2007 Victoria BC.

The CWIA Conference 2009 planning committee has tentatively secured some amazing speakers for the conference:  Rosella Bjornson, part of the planning committee, and the first female hired to fly for an airline in North America; Maryse Carmichael – the first female pilot of the Canadian precision flying team Snowbirds; Dee Brasseur – the first female pilot of the CF-18 Hornet; Cathy Fraser – Air Canada pilot, and her husband Dave Williams – former Canadian Astronaut. 

For more information about the conference this June, the conference schedule, the free Career Panel on Saturday afternoon Jun 6th, and a list of fun events can be found at www.cwia.ca/conference.htm