Help us celebrate our 2019-2020 WTS Metropolitan Phoenix Scholarship recipients!

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We are pleased to announce Megan Whittard as the recipient of the Support Sky Harbor Coalition Scholarship Recipient.  Megan is a Masters of Science in Aviation Management student at Arizona State University.  She fell in love with the idea of becoming a pilot in high school and has earned a Bachelors of Science in Aeronautical Management Technology at ASU as well as the Commercial Pilot Single - and Multi-Egngine Land with Instrument Rating.  She's looking forward to post-graduate life and spending more time in the sky!

Congratulations Megan and thank you for sharing a little more about yourself and your passion for the transportation industry. 

What form of transportation do you prefer and why?

I prefer air transportation because the industry has made it possible to relatively quickly and comfortably travel anywhere in the world. Within a few hours relatives or friends can be in another state or country for the weekend. It is the most amazing feeling to leave the ground and see the world from 30,000 feet in the air, and awe-inspiring to consider how far aviation has come in just over 120 years.

What is your proudest accomplishment?

My proudest accomplishment was receiving my private pilot certificate in 2016. I have since earned other licenses, degrees, ratings, etc. But my private certificate was the first experience I had with aviation and so different than anything else I had ever put my mind to before. If I had never finished that training, I wouldn’t have chosen a career in aviation and had the amazing experiences and opportunities I have been blessed with since then.

If you could choose to have lunch with anyone (past or present) who would it be and why?

If I could have lunch with anyone, I would choose to have lunch with Phoebe Fairgrave Omlie. Not only did she set world records in aviation, but she held many accomplishments such as the first woman to licensed as a transport pilot as well as the first woman to be appointed to a federal aviation position under Roosevelt. She used her position to advise on what would become the National Airspace System and as well as establishing a program to train women as instructors during WWII. I would love to speak to her about her accomplishments and how she was able to afford such change in her time being a woman and a pilot/mechanic.

What’s next for you?

I am finishing up my graduate degree in Aviation Management and Human Factors will soon be defending my thesis, Training Deficiencies in Airport Surface Operations at Night. Then I will be looking for a job at a regional airline and hope to someday put my management degree to good use at a major airline when the industry starts hiring again.