In the earliest days of Kansas aviation, women were the ones performing some of the most daring feats. Some brave women in the biplane era, even took the drastic step of walking on airplane wings inflight. These ‘Wing Walkers’ were just the beginning of a long history of spirited women pushing the boundaries of aviation into realms that many men found too daunting to tackle. These dynamic women did this all  in a time period in which gender discrimination was far greater than it is today. Perhaps the most well-known female aviator, Amelia Earhart, was a native of Atchison, Kansas. Earhart was propelled into the public view in 1928, when she became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic in an airplane. Earhart passed into legend in 1937, when she disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting an around the world flight. Earhart’s disappearance only increased the appeal of her outstanding story. In this way, the spirit of this Kansas native has influenced countless daring women and girls for generations.

Kansas women were also dominant in the high profile air races of the 1920s and 30s. In 1929, an all-women’s race, now known as the Powder Puff Derby, pitted 20 experienced pilots against each other in a 9 day, cross country scramble from Santa Monica, California to Cleveland, Ohio. The winner was Louise Thaden, a Wichitan and Travel Air secretary that had been taking a part of her salary in flying lessons. While the race gained fame for Thaden and all female flyers, it did claim the life of one contestant. Because of this, women’s air races were not held for 7 years. Then in 1936, the first year women were allowed to compete in the National Air Races, Thaden and her copilot Blanche Noyes came in first place. The two women beat all of the men in the race, including the army trained pilots. This earned them the $2,500 cash prize reserved for the first females to finish, as well as the coveted Bendix Cup. The plane that the first-place pair was flying was a Beechcraft Model 17 ‘Staggerwing’ donated to them by none other than Olive Ann Beech. In fact, Beech was standing at the airfield with tears of joy in her eyes when the women she had believed in, landed ahead of all the other competitors.

Olive Ann Mellor was born in Waverly, Kansas, in 1903. Her mother (not her father) handled the finances for the family, a pattern that Olive Ann would recreate with her own family. When she was 14 her family moved to Wichita, and instead of attending high school, Olive Ann enrolled in business classes with the American Secretarial and Business College. In 1925, she accepted a job at the Travel Air Manufacturing company as a secretary. It was there that Olive Ann met her future husband, Walter Beech. The two were married in 1930, and when Walter started his own company, Olive Ann managed the finances as treasurer. When Walter was hospitalized in 1940, Olive Ann took over all of the leadership duties for the company. When Walter’s health improved, Olive Ann was not willing to return to control to her husband. Walter trusted his wife’s decision-making, so Olive Ann led Beechcraft throughout World War II. This ensured that in war-time Wichita women were represented both on the assembly lines as riveters, and in executive offices. After Walter’s death in 1950, Olive Ann became the sole leader of the company, until she passed the position to her nephew Frank Hendrick in 1968. It was highly unusually for women to lead major companies in this time period, especially in heavy industries like airplane manufacturing. In fact, women were not legally allowed to own credit cards until 1974. Olive Ann Beech was able to overcome all of these systemic barriers with a stoic determination, and level-headed decision making that was unmatched by any of the men at her company.

Stewardesses to Flight Attendants In the 1950s and ‘60s, the country’s major airlines attempted to sell an air of luxury with each flight. Planes tickets were expensive, and usually purchased by businessmen who smoked cigarettes and drank martinis in the onboard cocktail lounge. Of course, this luxury masked the degradation faced by the employees serving these wealthy passengers. Flight attendants (then referred to as ‘stewardesses’), were subject to strict appearance standards. Patricia Banks  learned this the hard way when she graduated at the top of her class in her training program, but was unable to secure a job on any airline. Eventually, an insider informed Banks that none of the airlines hired Black employees. After a lengthy legal battle the Commission against Discrimination sided with Banks, making her the first Black flight attendant in 1960. This did not stop airlines from attempting to use the sex appeal of their flight attendants to sell more flights. Flight attendants were subject to many degrading requirements such as weigh-ins, prohibitions against marriage, and impractical uniforms.  The airlines wanted their customers to believe that all of their flight attendants were available.  The implications became less subtle, in 1971, when National Airlines launched their “Fly Me” ad campaign that included videos of Flight Attendants using the “Fly Me” slogan as if the women themselves were the commodity being sold. This rightly outraged flight attendants, who quickly organized and told the airlines to “go fly themselves.” The flight attendants formed some of the first ever women led unions, and used Banks’s victory in the area of racial discrimination to negotiate an end to these degrading practices that perpetuated and even encouraged abuse.

Kansas continues to be a place where women push the boundaries of aviation. In 2002, then-colonel Michelle Johnson became the first female Commander of the 22nd Air Refueling Wing at McConnell Air Forces Base. Then in 2004, Johnson was replaced by Colonel Kathy McClain, another female colonel. In 2001, Christina Kukuruda left her role as President and CEO of Aero Electric Connector and moved to Wichita to join Aero’s largest distributor, Airtechnics as COO. Under her leadership, Airtechnics grew from $54M to $112M in sales.  As women move into these leadership roles, they are given immense responsibilities for which they are uniquely prepared. A lifetime of disproving sexist attitudes ensured these women could handle any adversity. Perhaps it will be women of this generation that will solve  some of the biggest challenges ever to face the aviation industry. If history is any indication, there will be women on the cutting edge of  issues such as addressing the disastrous effect of aircraft emissions on our atmosphere.

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