Aviation Scholarships for Women: Every Major Program

Which organizations award the most scholarship money to women in aviation?

Women in Aviation International (WAI) and The Ninety-Nines award the largest pools collectively, with WAI distributing more than $750,000 annually across its conference scholarships and the Ninety-Nines Amelia Earhart Memorial Scholarship Fund granting an additional $300,000-plus for advanced ratings each year. Sisters of the Skies, Whirly-Girls International, ISA+21, and operator-sponsored programs add another several hundred thousand dollars in restricted awards aimed at specific demographics, ratings, or career tracks.

The funding picture has expanded sharply since 2018, when major Part 135 and Part 91K operators began underwriting named scholarships through WAI as a recruiting pipeline. NetJets, Flexjet, Wheels Up, and Textron Aviation now each fund multiple awards annually, and OEMs including Gulfstream, Bombardier, and Embraer have followed.

What does the WAI scholarship program actually cover?

WAI's annual scholarship slate is the single largest and broadest in the industry, with awards covering everything from a first discovery flight through full type ratings on the Gulfstream G650, Global 7500, and Citation Latitude. The 2024 cycle distributed roughly $786,000 across more than 130 individual awards, and applicants must be WAI members in good standing for at least one year prior to applying.

Applications open in the fall and close in early November, with recipients announced at the WAI annual conference each March. Notable named awards include the NetJets Type Rating Scholarship, the Flexjet Pilot Scholarship, the Boutsen Aviation Career Scholarship, and a long list of maintenance, dispatch, and ATC awards. Corporate aviation candidates should pay particular attention to the type-rating awards, which often come bundled with a conditional offer of employment.

What is the Amelia Earhart Memorial Scholarship and who qualifies?

The Amelia Earhart Memorial Scholarship Fund (AEMSF), administered by The Ninety-Nines, funds advanced ratings and degree programs for current Ninety-Nines members who already hold at least a private pilot certificate. Awards typically range from $6,000 to $12,000 and cover instrument, commercial, CFI, CFII, MEI, ATP, type ratings, and aerospace-related graduate study.

Applicants must have been Ninety-Nines members for at least one year and demonstrate a clear career or proficiency objective. The Ninety-Nines also fund the Fly Now Award for primary training and several chapter-level scholarships that are often less competitive than the national AEMSF. Deadlines fall in late December, with notification in spring.

What does Sisters of the Skies fund and who is eligible?

Sisters of the Skies (SOS) funds primary and advanced training for Black women pursuing professional pilot careers, with individual awards historically ranging from $2,500 to $25,000. The organization has partnered with United Airlines, Delta, JetBlue, and increasingly with corporate operators to underwrite ab initio scholarships, type ratings, and mentorship-paired training packages.

SOS scholarships require active engagement with the organization's mentorship structure, and applicants must demonstrate financial need alongside a documented training plan. The application cycle generally runs January through March. SOS also coordinates the Solo Scholarship program for high school and early-college students working toward a first solo.

Are there scholarships specifically for helicopter and rotorcraft training?

Whirly-Girls International is the primary funder of rotorcraft scholarships for women, awarding roughly $200,000 annually across approximately 15 named scholarships covering everything from primary helicopter add-ons to turbine transitions, NVG training, and external-load endorsements. Membership requires a helicopter solo, which itself can be funded through the Whirly-Girls Pat & Bill Edwards Memorial Helicopter Add-On Rating Scholarship.

Notable Whirly-Girls awards include the Doris Mullen Whirly-Girls Flight Training Scholarship, the Bell Helicopter Training Academy Scholarship, and turbine transition awards funded by Airbus Helicopters and Robinson. The Helicopter Association International (now Vertical Aviation International) also funds rotorcraft scholarships through its Vertical Aviation International Foundation, several of which are open to or earmarked for women.

What corporate and business aviation scholarships are available?

The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) administers a slate of scholarships funded by member operators and OEMs, with several explicitly aimed at women entering business aviation. Awards include the NBAA Lawrence Ginocchio Scholarship, the Janice K. Barden Aviation Scholarship, and the Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference scholarships, the last of which has become a meaningful entry point for women moving into Part 91 flight department operations.

Flexjet's Pilot Scholarship, awarded through WAI, fully funds a type rating on a Flexjet fleet aircraft with a conditional employment offer. NetJets has funded similar type-rating awards on the Citation Latitude and Challenger 350. Textron Aviation, Gulfstream, and Bombardier each fund factory-school type ratings for women candidates, typically administered through WAI or NBAA.

What about scholarships for maintenance, dispatch, and other non-pilot roles?

Both WAI and the Aviation Technician Education Council (ATEC) fund A&P training scholarships, and the Professional Aviation Maintenance Association (PAMA) awards several women-specific maintenance scholarships annually. Dispatch candidates can apply through the Airline Dispatchers Federation and the WAI dispatch-track awards, several of which are funded by ARINC and Jeppesen.

The International Aviation Womens Association (IAWA) Connie Engel Scholarship and the IAWA Holly Mendel Scholarship support women in aviation business, finance, and law tracks — categories that are routinely overlooked in pilot-focused scholarship coverage but matter heavily for flight department leadership and brokerage careers.

When are the major deadlines and how should applicants prioritize?

Most major aviation scholarships for women cluster their deadlines between October and February, with WAI closing in early November, AEMSF in late December, Whirly-Girls in late November, and Sisters of the Skies running January through March. Applicants pursuing professional careers should treat scholarship season as a parallel application cycle to flight training itself.

The practical hierarchy: join WAI and The Ninety-Nines immediately on entering training to satisfy the one-year membership requirements, then apply to every primary-training award in year one, every advanced-rating award in year two, and every type-rating and career-transition award in year three. Candidates who treat the process seriously — clean logbooks, documented training plans, specific career targets, and two or three strong references — routinely stack $20,000 to $50,000 in awards across a multi-year training arc. Letters of recommendation from current corporate pilots, chief pilots, or flight department directors carry materially more weight than generic CFI references for the type-rating and business-aviation awards.