Women and Commercial Aviation

Amelia Earhart – the world’s most famous woman aviator – received her first flight training in Long Beach, California strapped into a Kinner Airster prop plane back in 1920. It cost $10. A lot has changed since then but one thing hasn’t – the life of a woman aviator is still a challenge. Discrimination still persists and the obstacles are formidable. Only 6% of all pilots are women and only 3.5% of these are commercial pilots. This figure is expected to increase significantly, however, in the upcoming years with returning female veterans from the armed services and with the barriers of discrimination against women in aviation coming down.

Captain Karen Kahn

Captain Karen Kahn is one of the nation's first female commercial airline pilots and she is still on the job. She has been actively involved in the aviation industry for 40 years. Prior to starting her airline career in 1977, she was a flight instructor and operated her own weekend ground school teaching private, commercial and instrument courses. "Pursuing a career as a pilot, particularly a commercial pilot, is a painfully complex business," Kahn said.

Kahn has addressed both sex and age discrimination in commercial aviation. "The average age for hiring an airline pilot is 35," Ms. Kahn noted. "With age (and sex) discrimination looming as a legal deterrent, airlines no longer list limits for new hires, preferring to consider pilot qualifications on their own merits." She wrote and published a terrific book entitled: "Flight Guide for Success: Tips & Tactics for the Aspiring Airline Pilot.” The book answers the tough pilot career questions without sugar coating the answers.

From getting started and finding the first flying job, to marketing oneself and preparing for the interviews, this book lays it on the line. Kahn's no-nonsense book illustrates the underlying point that honesty and integrity matter not only in an airline career, but also in life.

Flight Training Schools for Women

All major flight training schools and colleges are co-educational and offer
co-educational facilities and conveniences. One popular co-educational flight training school is Aviator College in Ft. Pierce, Florida. Several of the faculties are female and they have first hand experience about the difficulties a female flight student can face.

Organizations for Women Aviators

WAI (Women In Aviation) is the biggest organization for women aviators and their website (www.wai.org) is full of valuable information, including scholarships, assistance with flight training schools, and many other helpful tips.

The International Organization of Women Pilots aka the "Ninety-Nines" is another good organization for women pilots and aspiring pilots. It was established in 1929 by 99 women pilots to provide mutual support and advancement of aviation. Today, the organization promotes world fellowship through flight, provides networking and scholarship opportunities for women and aviation education in the community and preserves the unique history of women in aviation. Please visit their website.

As it was back in Amelia Earhart’s time, the difficulties for a woman aviator continue today. The focused and determined female flight student – however - will overcome these obstacles. She will excel and join the ranks of a very special few.

Car Dealers Need to Pick up Speed with Social Media

"Social media is now shaping customer expectations in any and every way," says Chance Parker, Vice President of Web intelligence division at J.D. Power & Associates.

Social Media Marketing (SMM) is the new way to market your product or service. It is happening with thousands of companies big and small around the world. It is quick, inexpensive and it reaches a new audience traditional advertising can’t. So why isn’t it happening with car dealerships?

45% of the Inc. 500 fastest growing businesses, 41% of the higher education sector and 57% of the nation’s top 200 charities already use social media marketing. More importantly, 93% of Americans believe a business should have a presence in social media, 85% believe a business should not only be present but also interact with its consumers via social media, and 56% of Americans feel both a stronger connection with and better served by businesses when they can interact with them in a social media environment. These figures come from a recent Cone Business School study. Yet according to estimates less than 20% of all car dealerships actively use social media in their marketing efforts. Less than 20%! And there are fewer than 100 dealerships who have interactive blogs. Why aren’t more car dealerships taking advantage of this?

There are many reasons. Some dealerships shy away from it because they are worried about the negative image they have or the one it could create. If your car dealership has a negative image - participating in social media sites will have a positive effect and can change a bad image into a good one quickly. Other dealerships say they do not have the time or the personnel to manage it. Others don’t even have an email strategy much less a social media marketing plan.There are exceptions. Here are a few car dealerships who have embraced social media marketing and are already seeing positive results:

Bay Ridge Toyota, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Longo Toyota, El Monte, Ca
Maxton Motors, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio
Reedman Toll Automotive Group, Langhorne, Pennsylvania
Reineke Family of Dealerships, Ohio
Serra Honda Birmingham, Alabama
Vinart Dealerships, Emmaus, PA

You can’t afford to wait. The cost alone is worth it and the benefits far outweigh the time you spend managing it. Save money. Sell more vehicles. If you are a car dealership in today’s brutally competitive market, you need to get in the social media marketing fast lane today!