Celebrating Women in Aviation
- AIRO
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
March is Women’s History Month—a time to honor the struggles and contributions of women throughout American history. In March, we also celebrate Women of Aviation Worldwide Week, observed globally during the week of March 8 to mark the anniversary of the first female pilot’s license given to Raymonde de Laroche in 1910. We celebrate this date annually to honor the contributions of women to the field of aviation, celebrating trailblazers like Amelia Earhart—the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean—Harriet Quimby—the first licensed female pilot in the United States—and Bessie Coleman—the first African American to earn an international pilot’s license, among many others.
But we also celebrate the work of modern women in aviation. We sat down with our Northwest Arkansas General Manager Elizabeth Resh and Owner and CEO Lee McAhren to discuss their experiences as women in the aviation industry.
Elizabeth decided she wanted to learn how to fly when she was 12 years old, following in the footsteps of her dad and older brother who were both interested in aviation. After watching her brother complete his first solo flight on his 16th birthday, she decided she was going to do the same—and she did.
"I was a little sister who wasn’t about to be outshined by my older brother,” Elizabeth said. “If he could do it, I could do it.”
After going to college to become a pilot, Elizabeth spent some time working in the airlines before returning to the world of general aviation and her current role as a flight instructor and general manager at AIRO.
Throughout her training and career, Elizabeth was often the only or one of few women involved, which she says is the reason Women of Aviation Worldwide Week is so important to her.
“Getting to see the dedication and honor the respect and the work of all the other pioneers of aviation, specifically female pioneers, that have walked before me, it means a lot to me to be able to follow in their footsteps and continue to blaze that trail for the next generation so they don’t have some of the same issues that I faced,” Elizabeth said.
Becoming a pilot inarguably requires a lot of hard work and sacrifice, be it time, money, or energy. Elizabeth acknowledges this challenge and embraces it, because she says aviation is her passion.
“We’re trained the same way everybody else is,” Elizabeth said. “We didn’t get here just because of who we are. We got here because we earned it.”
Lee offers another perspective on what it’s like to be a woman in the aviation industry.
She was introduced to the world of aviation by her husband, whom she runs the company alongside, and says that her love for the field has grown tremendously over the last 20 years of operation. Her role lies primarily in the sales and marketing side of the company, though her place in the C-suite—as a CEO in particular—is uncommon, with women being historically underrepresented in senior leadership positions in the aviation industry. Though the number is hard to pin down for general aviation companies, as of 2022, only about 9% of global airline CEOs were women, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
“There are many times when we feel like, as women, we have to prove ourselves a little bit more and above what a man would have to,” Lee said, “but that’s okay, because that challenge is well accepted with me and with the other females within our company.”
In her leadership role, she aims to create an environment where anyone has access to aviation. Whether they want to be a pilot, mechanic, air traffic controller, or any other role in the industry, Lee wants to make sure that there is opportunity for everyone.
“That’s the legacy we want to leave,” Lee said. “If there’s anyone that truly has an interest in aviation, we've created a hub where they can feel a part of that, of the aviation world.”
The number of women in the aviation industry has grown steadily over the years, though these numbers are still relatively small. According to the FAA’s U.S. Civil Airmen Statistics, women made up about 11% of all pilots in 2024, up from just under 7% in 2016. The percentage of non-pilot women in the industry, however, remained at about 29% from 2016 to 2024, with female flight attendants making up the vast majority of this number. In 2024, women made up only about 3% of mechanics, 6% of repairmen, and about 9% of ground instructors.
So, while female representation in the aviation industry is gradually improving, there is still work to be done. At AIRO, we celebrate the hard work and achievements of our female pilots, students, ground crew, and all others who help make AIRO the aviation hub that it is. We are committed to empowering women in the industry and ensuring the field of aviation is a welcoming space for everyone.