Saskatchewan Air Ambulance is celebrating Women of Aviation Worldwide Week with an open house today (Wed), in particular for students and others who might be interested in a career in the industry. Members of the SAA team are on hand to discuss their roles and what is needed to get into the aviation world. The Women of Aviation Worldwide website says the week is a call to address gender imbalance in the air and space industry.

Captain pilot with the SAA, Tammie Kulyk has found aviation a welcoming place for women and anyone who wants to pursue a career in aviation. She says, “Not only do we have women here today supporting women in aviation, but we have men supporting women in aviation, and not just today, but every day. And I have many allies, not just female friends in the business, but many male allies who support me, and everyone, along the way.

Sonya Robillard agrees. She is a flight instructor at Millennium Aviation who also has experience in bush flying, teaching on floats and skis, and charter and medivac work. Robillard highly recommends the profession. “Not only for the adventure and love of it, but the camaraderie, the respect that is shown to staff and to one another. It’s a fun team environment, and it’s something where you will build lifelong relationships.”

Both Robillard and Kulyk note that it is a good time to get into aviation, because like many sectors, they are dealing with a shortage of skilled workers in all aspects of the industry, from pilots to mechanics to air traffic control, to name a few.

Next month, it will be 78 years of service for Saskatchewan Air Ambulance.  A news release from the province says SAA’s LIFEGUARD service is the oldest non-military air medical transport program in the world. The Ministry of SaskBuilds and Procurement owns and operates a fleet of four King Air 200 aircraft, while medical service is administered by the Saskatchewan Health Authority.