Rayleigh West gripped a bright orange marshaling wand and mimicked the hand signals an aircraft marshal had just demonstrated to guide planes on the tarmac. In the DPS hangar at Asheville Regional Airport, she was learning one small part of a much larger operation.
“That was cool,” she said.
West was one of 75 middle and high school girls who gathered at the airport for Western North Carolina’s (WNC) first Girls in Aviation Day last April. Students from 10 schools across four counties spent the day exploring careers that keep the aviation industry moving, from aircraft maintenance and drone operations to air traffic control, flight training, airport leadership, military aviation and fire rescue, among others.
For West, then a high school senior, the experience revealed just how much happens beyond the jobs people typically associate with airports.
“When you think about working at the airport, sometimes you just think about pilots, flight attendants or security,” she said. “You don’t realize how much communication happens with pilots and the people on the ground. There are a lot of big jobs to do.”
Angi Daus, vice president of air service and corporate affairs at Asheville Regional Airport was thrilled with the turnout and said the range of responsibilities reflects the complexity of running an airport.
“You can think about running an airport in the same way that you might run a city,” Daus explained, pointing to roles such as coordinating operations, managing infrastructure and working with the public. “It was awesome to feel the power of women supporting young girls exploring these career pathways.”
Rebecca Stephens helped organize the inaugural WNC event and said that the best experience was seeing the girls having “a-ha moments.”
“You could see them thinking, maybe I could do this too,” said Stephens, who is also Executive Director of Partnership for Appalachian Girls’ Education (PAGE) , an out-of-school-time (OST) program based in Marshall, NC.
Seeing the work up close
Such moments are mission critical at PAGE. As part of the WNC After 3PM network of OST programs created by Dogwood Health Trust in 2023, girls envision and pursue futures beyond the limits of their rural communities through hands-on workshops, mentorship, paid fellowships and college immersion trips.
“In rural communities, we have to be thoughtful and strategic about how we introduce young women to careers,” Stephens said. “Our girls deserve not only to hear about a career but to actually see what it’s like in real life.”
Stephens heard about Girls in Aviation Day, a national initiative of Women in Aviation International, and wondered what it might take to bring one to the region. She pitched the idea to National Air Transportation Association (NATA) and Asheville Regional Airport officials and then leaned into her network of afterschool partners to recruit students from local schools.
Interest was strong, and so was the potential to teach young women about careers they might not have otherwise considered. Shannon Chambers, NATA’s senior vice president of communications and association affairs said that for many students, this peek behind the curtain was exciting.
“Some students have never been to an airport, and many have never had the opportunity to see what happens behind the scenes. Meeting women working in the industry adds a personal connection and helps students see a path they could follow,” she said. “Whether they enjoy solving technical problems, working with people, organizing projects, or telling stories, there may be a place for those talents in our industry.”
Room to grow
Women remain underrepresented in many aviation careers, but the numbers also point to an opportunity to expand access and participation. According to year-end 2024 FAA data published by Women in Aviation International, women held just 5.5% of airline transport pilot certificates and 2.9% of aircraft mechanic certificates. Yet women accounted for nearly 16% of student pilots, a sign of growing interest that Chambers hopes will translate into long-term careers.
Meanwhile, trades in aviation are becoming increasingly accessible for the next generation of young professionals in WNC, thanks to evolving Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs on the high school and postsecondary levels.
In Yancey County, Mountain Heritage High School recently launched a program that creates a new aviation pathway preparing students for high-demand careers in aviation and aerospace. A dedicated aviation and flight training program is also offered at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College (A-B Tech), in partnership with Western North Carolina Aviation at the Asheville Regional Airport.
Learning beyond the school day
Formal CTE instruction is vital to developing the future workforce, but career exploration outside the classroom plays an equally important role.
Annie Jonas, program manager for Resilient Afterschool Programs at the North Carolina Center for Afterschool Programs (NCCAP), said out-of-school-time experiences give young people room to explore interests and imagine possibilities in ways that complement classroom learning.
Meanwhile, employers stand to benefit too. Western North Carolina hosts a growing cluster of major aviation employers like Pratt & Whitney and GE Aerospace, supported by a statewide industry that generates over 427,000 jobs.
“It’s win-win for industry partners and out-of-school time providers to work together,” Jonas said, pointing to an Afterschool & Industry Partnership Playbook developed by NCCAP to support and grow connections between afterschool programs and industries.
“We’re thinking broadly about how we can expose young people to careers that are going to them connected to this community. You have to plant that seed.”
Learning by doing
While the Girls in Aviation Day plants seeds about careers in aviation, afterschool programs across WNC illuminate many diverse career trajectories through hands-on learning. Rayleigh West’s own path shows how career exploration can turn a spark into a plan. West joined PAGE in 2023 after her family moved to Madison County. As a homeschool student new to town, opportunities to become more involved in the community were high on her list.
“I found my confidence through PAGE,” West said, noting that her role as a young leader accelerated in 2025 when she became a PAGE high school fellow. Structured as a paid summer internship, West was paired with a professional journalist and mentor and created a cookbook of family recipes and food memories gathered from people in her community.
Now a freshman at A-B Tech pursuing a career-focused certificate in entrepreneurship and baking and party arts, she dreams of owning her own business one day.
“Without the program I might not have some of the opportunities that I have now,” West shared. “I learned that you can have an idea and turn it into an opportunity.”
What’s next
With the inaugural Girls in Aviation Day behind her, Stephens is focused on the next one, slated for spring of 2027, which will expand to include young women from schools in Mitchell County and the Qualla Boundary.
Alexandra Brendel, NATA’s associate vice president of membership, is excited about future potential as well. “We hope the students attending Asheville Girls in Aviation Day, along with aspiring aviation professionals across the country, will continue exploring the many opportunities available in our industry.”
On a broader scale, Stephens is exploring similar events for other fields, with biomedical engineering targeted for 2028.
“Girls in Aviation Day showcased the need that girls have for these kinds of opportunities in our area,” she said. This experience is providing us with a platform to be able to talk to other industries. I’m excited about how Appalachia is growing and the ways that we can lead the country. It’s a very innovative place, and these girls can bring that innovation forward.”
