FlightCom – August 2019

33 FlightCom Magazine

Industry Update

Guy Leitch

WOMEN SHINE AT

IATA AWARDS

T

HE awards were presented

at the conclusion of the

World Air Transport Summit

(WATS) which followed the

75th IATA Annual General

Meeting in Seoul, Republic

of Korea. The IATA AGM and WATS

gathered more than 1,000 leaders of the

global air transport industry.

Fadimatou Noutchemo Simo, the

Founder and President of the Young

African Aviation Professional Association

(YAAPA) is a woman with a mission – to

raise awareness of aviation as a potential

career, particularly in those communities

which may not ordinarily be exposed to

aviation.

In 2014 she founded the Young

African Aviation Professional Association

(YAAPA) to help make this a reality. As part

of YAAPA’s outreach program Fadimatou

introduced the Heleta Aviation Scholarship

Program to encourage underprivileged

children in rural areas of Africa to consider

aviation as a future career choice. YAAPA

is also an active player in establishing a

Community Centre in Cameroon which

will aim to introduce a Youth Aviation Tech

Program for Africa by matching interested

young people with aviation professionals

and providing them with strong mentorship

opportunities.

The winner of the Inspirational Role

Model award was Christine Ourmières-

Widener, the CEO of Flybe.

Christine Ourmières -Widener began

her career in aviation as a young engineer

in maintenance department. From there

she has worked her way up through various

high-profile roles on multiple continents,

leading her to the role of the CEO of Flybe.

One of her main areas of focus includes

raising the profile of aviation among young

people and inspiring young women to join

the aviation industry. She introduced the

highly successful FlyShe initiative which

is designed to change aspirations and create

opportunities for women.

The Award for the Diversity & Inclusion

Team went to Air New Zealand, which

embarked on its Diversity and Inclusion

journey in 2013. The airline has established

an organization that represents Aotearoa, a

place to work where all Air New Zealanders

can be themselves and thrive.

The initial focus of the program was on

gender and accelerating the advancement of

women. A Women in Leadership Program

aimed to empower women to realize their

full potential while working at Air New

Zealand. The airline also created various

networks—Women in Digital, Women in

Engineering & Maintenance and WINGS

(female pilots). The number of females in

senior leadership roles has increased from

16% in 2003 to 42% today.

Cameroon’s Fadimatou Noutchemo Simo, founder and president of the Young

African Aviation Professionals Association (YAAPA) has received the IATA

WATS High Flyer Award for her work in promoting careers in aviation and

establishing career mentorship and development programmes.



Cameroon's Fadimatou

Noutchemo Simo

receives her award from

Alexandre de Juniac.