Aviation Camp Seeks to Increase Industry Diversity

A camp offered by the Organization of Black Airline Pilots, and sponsored by Delta, wants to increase diversity in commercial aviation, where fewer than five percent of pilots are women or African-American. The Atlanta camp highlighted in an Atlanta Journal-Constitution story, is one of a number of Aviation Career Education (ACE) camps around the country, and it's the only one sponsored by a major airline. The camp, as well as a separate Flight Line camp nearby, offer high school students a glimpse at careers as pilots, flight attendants, engineers, mechanics, dispatchers and managers as well as other jobs.
"That exposure [to pilot careers] is just not there," said Guy Stallworth, a Delta pilot and camp director, who added that flight training is lengthy and expensive.
The Delta camp features a flight from Atlanta to Johnson Space Center in Houston as well as aviation history, aerodynamics, meteorology, navigation, flight training, and simulator experiences. The Flight Line camp, for the top ACE applicants, features 15 hours of flight training to the point of solo flight. ACE camps attract 2,000 applications each year for limited spots, making the process very competitive.