Iconic women in aviation (left to right):
GIA panel guests: SA’s first black female combat pilot, Mandisa Mfeka; panel host and Airport Engineer from NACO/RHDHV, Jodi Appollis; Fireblade Aviation Executive for Strategy, Systems and Data (Industrial Engineer), Sonelle Van Voorst; SA’s first black female meteorologist and National Head of aeronautical weather forecast at SAWS, Esther Khambule; NAC Aircraft Maintenance Engineer, Jean-Mari Fourie; entrepreneur and MD of SRS Aviation Sibongile Sambo; and MD of Fireblade Aviation, Leigh Kretzschmar.
This Women’s Month Fireblade Aviation, a private aviation company, connected bright young female high school learners and tertiary education students with some of South Africa’s most inspiring aviation industry trailblazers for Netherlands Airport Consultants’ (NACO) annual Girls in Aviation (GIA) event. Fireblade, together with NACO, a company of Royal HaskoningDHV are taking the lead in driving diversity and inclusivity in aviation.
Guests included South Africa’s first Black female combat pilot, Major Mandisa Mfeka and the country’s first Black female meteorologist, Gaborekwe Esther Khambule, rendering Fireblade’s hangar a hive of inspiration for this unique networking event.
“A shortage of resources in aviation has reached a point where the industry needs to open up and talk about the skills required to plug critical gaps,” says Leigh Kretzschmar, Fireblade Aviation’s Managing Director. Because the aviation industry is a predominantly male space, Fireblade has continued to support the annual GIA initiative led by NACO over the last three years. The aim is to inspire and empower girls and young women to join the aviation field and nurture a passion for the industry.
This year, youngsters from the Gauteng region were incentivised to speak to experts one-on-one to compete for a prize. One learner remarked that she was expecting a ‘show and tell,’ but the opportunity to network with industry experts on such a personal level was made easy in a space where no question was too simple.
“Our business revolves around creating extraordinary experiences, and we wanted to bring something unique to this event, from taking the girls through security checks in our departure facility, to walking them across the apron to the fuel farm and into the hangar where various aircraft were parked,” says Kretzschmar. Learning how people get into the industry is an important starting point, and an all-women panel discussion explored issues around qualifications, gender bias, and how these women of stature were inspired to follow their aviation career dreams.
NACO’s Renee Smith, Airside Designer and GIA Programme Facilitator said she was encouraged to see girls interacting with positive role-models as they start to make their university and career plans. To illustrate how diverse careers in aviation are, Fireblade had their female pilots and engineers, hospitality staff, air stewards, apron staff, women in marketing, and finance, available to chat to the girls. “A seed has been planted today; girls are already volunteering to get involved in upcoming GIA events to refine their choices,” said Smith.
One grade 9 learner said she was amazed at the opportunities in aviation, while others entered the day thinking they’d love to be pilots or engineers, and left thinking air traffic control was an exciting option. “While we support STEM learners, girls from all walks of life and skill levels have the opportunity to consider a future in aviation; these outreach events are designed to inspire the next generation of women in aviation,” says Kretzschmar.
This is the fifth annual NACO GIA series in South Africa and the third time Fireblade has hosted a GIA event, as part of its CSI initiative to broaden inclusivity and diversity within aviation.
Maj. Mfeka who flew one of the five SAAF Hawk Mk 120 aircraft over Loftus Versveld Stadium in Pretoria during President Ramaphosa’s inauguration, engaged the Girls in Aviation audience with her fearless tenacity to become SA’s first black female combat pilot.
