Girls from across Massachusetts got a close-up look at passenger planes at Logan Saturday, as part of an initiative to encourage more female pilots.
JetBlue’s “Fly Like A Girl” program brought the young women to a hangar at the airport and let them tour their planes along with female pilots. According to the airline, less than 7 percent of U.S. pilots are women.
“It’s really exciting because my father was a pilot and I always loved flying, I just didn’t know how to get into it,” said JetBlue First Officer Ashley Millspaugh. “So it’s incredible to be here today to talk to these people, these kids, this future, and say ‘this is how you achieve something that you want to achieve.'”
“My favorite part was speaking into the phone and being in the cockpit,” said Calli Barrett.
Participants said getting a firsthand look at piloting from women in the field was encouraging.
“There’s nothing wrong with there being a lot of guys [in aviation] but I think diversity can show that you can be anything that you want,” said Totoski Mwangi of Girls Inc. in Worcester. “Because that’s what we’re told as kids. but as adults it’s not really what you see.”
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