Mississauga woman becomes commercial pilot career ambassador
Published March 8, 2023 at 9:48 am
A Mississauga woman has become a national ambassador to inspire women pursuing commercial pilot careers.
Eight women from across Canada were awarded $5,000 scholarships to assist in their studies to become commercial pilots or aircraft maintenance engineers — four are also to become ambassadors for aviation careers, Air Canada and technology company CAE, announced on International Women’s Day (March 8).
Mississauga’s Meera Bissonauth is one of CAE’s four scholarship recipients who will be a CAE Woman in Flight – Air Canada Ambassador and help inspire more women to become commercial pilots.
“To all the women who are considering careers in aviation, I’d say, definitely go for it,” said Bissonauth in a video promotion. “There are so many women here that are going to support you and root for you as you move up in your career.”
Bissonauth added that “you have to see it to believe it.”
“In order to encourage women in aviation, I try my best to create spaces where pilots can speak to students around Ontario about how to become pilots and about this career itself,” she said.
CAE relaunched the Women in Flight Ambassador program last year, and this year they are partnering with Air Canada to support more women pursuing careers in aviation.
“Today, the fruits of that partnership are being seen as eight women from diverse backgrounds get a well-deserved boost to continue their training,” said Nick Leontidis, CAE’s group president, Civil Aviation.
“Diversity equity and inclusion are core values at CAE. Currently, only five percent of commercial pilots are women, and our newest Women in Flight Ambassadors will join six others to help spread the word about this exciting profession and serve as role models to young women who aspire to a career at the controls of a commercial airliner.”
There are also four recipients of the 2023 Captain Judy Cameron Scholarship, which provides financial assistance to Canadian women studying to become commercial pilots or aircraft maintenance engineers.
The Captain Judy Cameron Scholarship was established in honour of Air Canada’s first female pilot to help foster the next generation of women following in her trailblazing footsteps.
“We know how crucial this support is to young women seeking non-traditional aviation careers, and we have seen results first-hand from the success of past winners. Congratulations to this year’s winners,” said Arielle Meloul-Wechsler, executive vice president, chief human resources officer and public affairs at Air Canada.
- Amanda Tosto, Surrey, British Columbia
- Hélène Trudeau, Beausejour, Manitoba
- Charlotte Thorley, Grimsby, Ontario
- Chanelle Wilson, Coldstream, British Columbia
- Meera Bissonauth, Mississauga, Ontario
- Mia Cochran, North Bay, Ontario
- Jaime Hanson, Rocky Mountain House, Alberta
- Kyra Jarvis, Kingston, Nova Scotia