In recent weeks, Air Canada has hosted a series of events that aim to provide students and young professionals a glimpse of the wide-ranging careers in aviation and encourage them to pursue careers in this field.
The events included an introduction for high school students to the many roles within aviation for young women, as well as a hackathon that invited university students to work alongside Air Canada employees to develop solutions to real-world issues facing the global aviation business.
In the hackathon, students teamed up to work together over a two-day period developing potential solutions related to real life challenges in cargo, maintenance and customer experience.
“The energy that exuded from those participating in this event was high, and it showed in their deep analysis of the challenge and the ideas they came up with and executed upon. The final pitches were all sophisticated and smart,” said Mel Crocker, Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Air Canada. “Events like these are a fantastic way to generate new ideas that often give us a running start on improvements, and it’s also a great way to meet emerging talent, I thoroughly enjoyed meeting with all of the students. Through the event, they were able to get a glimpse of what we do every day, and should they be interested in joining our team in the future, they’ve already made some great contacts.”
Inspiring High School Students
At the same time as the hackathon was taking place at Air Canada’s Montreal headquarters, the airline was also hosting its Young Women in Aviation event, an annual event which returned this year after pausing during the pandemic.
This event enabled students over the age of 15 who are deciding what they will study in the future to learn more about multidisciplinary careers in aviation.
Air Canada welcomed students throughout the day, and they were able to hear directly from Air Canada’s leaders. They were also treated to an aircraft tour and visit to the Air Canada museum, and visited booths set up by different teams at Air Canada. The goal was to provide the students in attendance with insights into what makes a career in aviation so exciting and showcase career paths where women are currently underrepresented.
“This event is significant because we wanted to inspire young women to pursue education and careers in the skilled trades and technologies industry. Being able to connect students with seasoned professionals from various parts of this industry - to share their experiences and provide guidance – is integral to developing this up and coming generation,” said Tony Lowery, Vice President of Maintenance at Air Canada.