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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The Yellowknife Airport has been dubbed the Most Female-Pilot-Friendly Airport Worldwide after the March 10 event Girls Fly Too.

The goal of the event was to introduce girls and women to the aviation industry, and to that end succeeded in flying 418 girls in helicopter rides throughout the day.

Kirsten Brazier, left, prepares to fly Kirsten Peterson, 12, on a helicopter ride as a part of the Girls Fly Too/Fly it Forward Challenge event March 10. After four pilots flew 418 young women over the city, the Yellowknife Airport was dubbed the Most Female-Pilot-Friendly Airport Worldwide. - photo courtesy of Scott Lough

For organizer Kirsten Brazier, a pilot with Trinity Helicopters, the best part was helping young women ages six to 22 learn about the industry in a fun way.

"The most important thing was the result, and that's not the award, that's all these smiles, and these kids are just totally energized," said Brazier, who said her first flight in a helicopter was the spark that helped her decide on choosing aviation as a career. "The thing that usually captures people's interest in aviation in the first place is going for their first flight."

Brazier and the Yellowknife Airport were competing with airports in seven other countries that had pilots flying people in planes and helicopters as part of the Women of Aviation Worldwide Week Fly It Forward Challenge, judged by a panel of female pilots. The goal of the challenge is to raise awareness about women in aviation by trying to see who can fly the most female passengers in one day.

"Part of the event was taking the girls for the free helicopter ride to give them that experience and as well, just for fun, we threw in our numbers to see if we would win, and we did," said Brazier.

In addition to the honour for the airport, Brazier and Trinity pilot Derrick Robinson earned the titles of Most Dedicated Woman Pilot Worldwide and Most Supportive Male Pilot Worldwide.

"It's amazing. I mean, I've done lots of activities in the past in support of women. Nothing on this kind of scale," said Brazier. "I knew that it would be rewarding."

Brazier said the details for when and where the trophies will be awarded are still being worked out.

She said the event would not have been possible without the support of airport management and more than 40 volunteers, who did everything from serve food, to helping with crowd control, to getting people onto the helicopters.

"They basically pitched in 100 per cent, they had people bending over backwards to give us things that we needed to make the event a success," she said.

Although the event is over, Brazier said she intends to keep her website running, which was originally set up to let people know about the event. Moving forward, the goal is to let people know about opportunities to get into the aviation industry, whether as a pilot or as a ticket agent or baggage handler on the ground.

"I'm not saying that I am providing the be all and end all of information, but it's a source. It's always useful for somebody who's interested in it as a career to know what it's all about, how can they do that, can they see it in action and how can they pay for it," said Brazier.

Airport manager Steve Loutitt said he was proud of the honours and the accomplishment.

"It's certainly something we're excited about," said Loutitt. "I think it showcases opportunities career-wise for many, many different facets in aviation."

He said for next year's event, he is open to giving it a larger venue, and anticipates that the event will be even bigger.

"Congratulations to all the people and companies that were involved, they were able to pull off a great event," said Loutitt.

Because of the success of the event, and the attention the awards bring, Brazier said she expects next year's event to be even bigger, being able to fly well in excess of 500 people.

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