Jet Midwest is very proud of our 23-year history of diversity and inclusion,

and particularly of the gender balance within our organization. Since our

inception, we have been a company for everyone. At Jet Midwest our

commitment to fair pay and hiring practices shows in the numbers. We

currently have $0.00 pay gap between men and women. Given how much we

value diversity, it should come as no surprise that our Executive Leadership

team is split 50/50 women to men, while the national average in similar roles

is about 25%. We are also ahead of national averages for placement of

women in business/finance, parts sales, and shipping/receiving roles.

In September 2019, @IATA announced that 59 global airlines have

committed to the #25by2025 campaign, which seeks to address gender

balance in civil aviation by increasing the number of women in senior

positions and the number of women in underrepresented jobs to 25% by the

year 2025 (ex. Pilots and operations, etc.). At Jet Midwest, we are industry

leaders in gender balance. We are already there!

On the last Wednesday of each month in 2020, we are going to highlight

some of the amazing and inspirational Women of Jet Midwest with our

campaign #womenwhosoar.

Our first profiles of 2020 highlight our Parts Sales Team. Ashley Santee,

Director of Sales (@ashleysantee) and Briana Hall, Sales Representative

(@brianahall), continue to make a strong one-two punch in our component

sales and solutions department. We asked both Ashley and Briana a few

questions about their aviation careers and working for Jet Midwest.

Ashley has been with Jet Midwest for 8 years. When asked about the path

that led to her current aviation career, Ashley says, “As a young 20-

something, I discovered the aviation world. My passion for airplanes and love

of technical research clicked almost immediately and I knew I would be a

lifer. Fifteen years later, I’ve been blessed with great industry relationships

and an amazing career.” Her best advice to the next generation of women in

aviation is to take it one day at a time and that listening to your clients is the

single most important learning tool. “You’ll learn faster by listening than by

being right.” When speaking about the thing that Ashley loves the most

about her job, she says, “My job allows me the opportunity to mentor fresh

faces and guide them into the aviation industry. Teaching them about

aviation through my tribal knowledge and watching them grow their aviation

careers is quite rewarding for me.”

In fact, Ashley has done just that in her leadership and mentorship of Briana

Hall, who is now in her 4th year as a sales representative at Jet Midwest.

Briana came to Jet Midwest fresh just starting her professional career. Having

always been an innate people person, starting in customer service was a

natural fit for her. Coming into this business with no aviation background was

challenging at first. With mentorship and in-depth hands-on experience,

Brianna has developed outstanding customer service skills and has learned

the aircraft component side as well. Briana’s advice to the next generation of

women coming into aviation is, “Stick with it! It’s tough in the beginning,

especially with no prior aviation experience. And I learn something new

every day! Even if you’ve been in the industry your entire life, there is never

a dull moment in aviation.” She couldn’t be righter. She wanted a career she

could look forward to coming to every day and she said, “Boy…did I find it!”

When asked what she loves the most about her job, Briana says,

“I love being able to research deeper into the parts and continue to learn more about how they function, where they are located on the aircraft and then how much they are worth. At the end of the day, this all helps me to continue to learn and develop my aviation knowledge, which helps me better serve

my customers.”

We are very proud to have both Ashley and Briana as examples of amazing Women Who Soar!