Flight simulators, a scavenger hunt and a crash course in aviation phonetics greeted North Texas students over the weekend as Women in Aviation International's North Texas chapter hosted its annual Girls in Aviation Day, a free event built to nudge young people toward careers in the skies. The Oct. 3 gathering ran from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and welcomed students ages 8 to 18.
According to Women in Aviation International's North Texas chapter, this year's edition took place at the Henry B. Tippie National Aviation Education Center at 5657 Mariner Dr. Admission was free, and the chapter says last year's event drew more than 900 attendees and volunteers combined. As reported by NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, the event marked its 12th annual edition this year.
Hands-On Flight Simulators And Career Workshops
The day's programming leaned heavily into hands-on activities, with flight simulators, a build-a-helicopter station, aviation phonetics lessons and a scavenger hunt among the offerings, per the chapter's event listing. The entry ticket also included aviation-themed giveaways and keynote speakers, and high school girls had access to a separate track with advanced activities and career workshops, according to the chapter's description of the program. The Commemorative Air Force listed the event on its calendar, confirming the free entry and the 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. window.
The chapter frames the event as a way to connect attendees of all ages with mentors and resources while exploring aviation and STEM-related fields. That mission dovetails with a broader push in North Texas to build out the region's aviation workforce, a sector facing a well-documented talent gap.
Schools Building A Pipeline Into Cockpits And Hangars
Students looking to turn a single Saturday's inspiration into a career path have options close to home. Rising Aviation High School, an accredited private school at Addison Airport, offers both a maintenance pathway and a pilot pathway, and according to the school's own materials, students can earn a private pilot certificate while still in high school. The school also offers a path into drone technology alongside its piloting and maintenance tracks.
Dallas College, meanwhile, just graduated its first cohort of Aviation Maintenance Technology students — 14 graduates who earned FAA-aligned General, Airframe and Powerplant certifications, the school reported. At least nine of them had already landed aviation-related jobs before they crossed the stage at their June 18 commencement, according to Dallas College.
A Regional Industry With Room To Grow
The stakes for that pipeline are sizable. North Texas already employs more than 6,900 aircraft mechanics across an aerospace industry with more than 900 companies, the college's report notes, and those mechanics and service technicians earn a median wage of $40.22 an hour — roughly $80,000 a year. Globally, Boeing projects a need for more than 700,000 new aviation technicians within the next two decades, per the same report.
Women remain underrepresented in those roles. The Federal Aviation Administration has reported that women make up less than 20% of the workforce in most aviation occupations, with the widest gaps in senior leadership, professional piloting and maintenance technician roles — a gap events like Girls in Aviation Day are designed to help close over time.
