Jul 12, 2024

Last week, Air Canada proudly sponsored The Ninety-Nines International Conference and Career Expo that took place in Vancouver, BC. The organization, founded in 1929 and whose first president was Amelia Earhart and currently counts close to 8,000 female pilots and student pilots, offers mentorship as well as scholarships to its members. 

“We welcome women from all over the world, whether you are a certified or licensed pilot or student pilot even. We have members from New Zealand, India, and obviously Canada and the United States. We offer mentorship and scholarships to our members,” said Captain Janet Patton, International Director of The Ninety-Nines. “We have commercial pilots, helicopter pilots, all sorts! What we all have in common is our passion for aviation and so meetings like these are a good opportunity to get together and share our experiences, challenges and passion,” continued Captain Patton, who is also a licensed hot air balloon commercial pilot.  

“Thanks to our Air Canada sponsorship, we are able to hold this event in beautiful Vancouver and gain visibility to our organization,” said Cindy Pang, Governor of the West Canada section of The Ninety-Nines, licensed pilot and Air Canada concierge at Vancouver International Airport. “We count many Air Canada pilots and employees in our group, therefore having the company’s support means a lot to us.” 

Kim Winsor, captain on the Boeing 737-8 at Air Canada, is one of them. “Whenever I mentor, train or fly with another female pilot, I always mention The Ninety-Nines. It really is a sisterhood; we support each other and lift each other up,” she said. “My father was a pilot. When I got my private pilot licensed, he was the one who told me to join The Ninety-Nines. That was in 1994 and I was the only member in Newfoundland! The aviation industry and more specifically my profession, is still very much male dominated so having this group, the support, the understanding, is very special to all of us.” 

With its headquarters located in Oklahoma, The Ninety-Nines International Conference and Career Expo takes place in a different city every year. This year, they chose Vancouver as host and Air Canada was honoured to be the sponsor airline of this edition. 

Supporting this year’s Ninety-Nines International Conference and Career Expo is part of Air Canada’s initiative to promote and support women in aviation. In the spring, we also sponsored the Canadian Women in Aviation conferences and the Elevate Cross-Country Tour. By supporting events like these, we aim to inspire the next generation of women to pursue a career in aviation, promote non-traditional jobs, break stereotypes and support women in achieving their aviation goals.