Sometime the biggest way to motivate someone is to tell them they can’t do something.
For Karlene Petitt, someone told her she couldn’t be a pilot and that sealed her fate. She began taking lessons at the age of 16 at Renton Municipal Airport. Now a pilot for Delta Airlines, she’s helping to introduce other women and girls to aviation.
March 7-13 marks Women of Aviation Worldwide Week. The week is designed to celebrate all women of aviation past and present and reach out to women and girls to show them the benefits and opportunities a career in aviation has to offer.
Renton Municipal Airport will mark the occasion on March 13 by introducing non-licensed women and girls to aviation with a free 15-minute flight.
Last year the airport was first runnerup for “most female-pilot-friendly airport in the world.” They were first in the United States for the title that meant they had introduced the most non-pilot women and girls to aviation.
Petitt will supervise the event that is a cause close to her heart. She said that more than 100 years ago only three percent of all licensed pilots were women and today only six percent are women.
She’s been flying commercial airlines for 23 years and a mother for 28 years. She said being a pilot and mother has been challenging and will remain so for many women until some familial responsibilities shift in the home.
“I think the reason the numbers of women in aviation are so low is that women don’t know how to do it all at the same time,” Petitt said. “Many women think they have to choose between being a mother or a pilot. And with the choice to do it all, the complexities are many. Emotional security with men when their wife is the primary breadwinner is a challenge. Household domestic requirements, still primarily fall upon the woman. When I came home from work, my other job waited … laundry, housework, bills and childcare demands. Times are changing, but we’re not there yet. When we are, the numbers will shift.”
But, Petitt remains firm that once a woman is exposed to flying, it will open up possibilities she never knew existed.
“We had one little girl come up and say after her first flight she says ‘Wow after today I believe anything is possible’,”Petitt said.
Petitt has been speaking out on behalf of women in her profession for years by taking part in “Expanding Horizons” conferences that encourages young girls to take math and science classes. She officially began organizing flying events like the one planned for March 13 last year after hearing the statistics about low numbers of women licensed pilots.
Sunday’s event will feature different planes, including a Beaver plane on floats like the one featured in the movie “Six Days, Seven Nights.” There will be Cessnas and a Stearman Biplane.
“When I first took that first flight I thought ‘Wow, they are going to pay me to do this?’” Petitt said. “I absolutely loved it.”
She now hopes others will catch the flying bug with a brief flight in the air.
Women of Aviation
WHAT: To celebrate women in aviation past and present, fights will be offered to women and girls to introduce them to the profession.
WHEN: 10:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., March 13
WHERE: Boeing Employee Flying Association (BEFA) 840 West Perimeter Rd., Renton
COST: Free
MORE INFO: Email Karlene.Petitt@gmail.com, type “Flying it Forward” in the subject line. Anyone under 18 without a parent needs to bring a permission slip from a parent or guardian.
