BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — On Friday, Delta Airline workers rallied at Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport. The group is calling on the air carrier to stop what it calls "Delta's anti-union campaign" and allow for a free and fair union election. This as the airline industry also continues to struggle with staffing shortages and a more diverse workforce.
In fact, only 10% of pilots are women and even fewer are maintenance workers.
"My high school class, I was the only female," said pilot Mina Carlson. "Women have been flying for over 60 years and the growth is still stagnant."
In 1911, the first female became a licensed pilot, they flew in world wars and even set speed records in the 1950's and still today, women make up less than 20% of the industry's workforce.
"We are only making a one percent change in that gender gap every decade," said Carlson, who is bucking that trend.
She's an airport inspector for the Minnesota Department of Transportation and also a C130 flight engineer, just home from her most recent deployment.
"We’re making sure that everything looks good, so that we can take off when we say we’re going to take off," said Carlson. "I love being in an airplane, I love the freedom, I love the flying."
She also mentors young women and encourages them to consider a job sector that some don't even know exists. But an even bigger barrier is feeling like they belong.
"I'll say it's a rough path because it is heavily male-dominated and, unfortunately, there are a lot of folks that just don't believe women should be in planes," said Carlson.
The recently formed Women in Aviation Advisory Board was created to take a hard look at the industry, identify barriers to recruiting and retaining women, and make recommendations for change. In its latest report, the chairwoman wrote, "Changing culture requires consistent leadership commitment over time in thousands of large and small actions across government and industry. It’s hard work. It’s time to get started."
Carlson believes promoting diversity is critical to retention, especially as staffing shortages are expected to persist. The Boeing Company says the industry will need 130,000 pilots in the next two decades, 133,000 tech ops and an exponential number of support persons.
"For whatever reason we still lose the young ladies," said Carlson, who's hopeful women can still build a better flight plan for the future. "Then when they are finally bitten by the bug, we got them, we're good, but then we have to mentor them."
There are several upcoming events to get young people involved in aviation, including the Experimental Aircraft Association's four-day GirlVenture Camp in Oshkosh at the end of July.
The very popular Girls in Aviation Day is also on September 23 at Flying Cloud Airport. Carlson is the event director and expects thousands of girls will sign-up.