Women in Aviation International (WAI) Turkey event was hosted by Boeing with the participation of stakeholders from the Turkish aviation industry in Istanbul. Ayşem Sargın, General Manager of Boeing Turkey and Central Asia, delivered the opening speech at the event where many women executives and professionals from the Turkish aviation industry celebrated International Women's Day together.

In two separate panels titled "Leading Women in Aviation - WAI Turkey Founding Members" and "Women Carrying the Flag in the Air", leading women from different stakeholders of the Turkish aviation industry such as Turkish airline companies, aircraft and engine manufacturers, industry organisations and universities shared their experiences and discussed the importance of women's employment for the future of Turkish aviation and WAI Turkey's contribution to the sustainable growth of the industry through its activities in this field.

Ayşem Sargın, General Manager of Boeing Turkey and Central Asia, said: "We believe that diversity and inclusion are critical to driving innovation and progress. We continue our efforts to increase the participation of women in the aviation industry. We believe that having more women in the talent pool of the aviation industry is critical for the future of the industry. Today, we see that women's employment in the aviation industry is far from where it should be both in the world and in Turkey. As Boeing, we continue to reach thousands of young women and girls and guide them towards aviation through the activities we carry out with our partners from the Turkish aviation ecosystem. Through WAI Turkey, which we are launching today, we wish to unite and grow the efforts of stakeholders in the industry under a single roof and contribute to our country's rapid achievement of the 50 percent female employment target set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO)."

WAI, which started its activities in the USA in 1990 and completed its official establishment in 1994, is a non-profit organisation that carries out activities to increase the number of women in all working areas of the aerospace industry.

As the largest organisation in this field, WAI has more than 17,000 active members worldwide, including over 400 companies and organisations, as well as industry professionals, aviation enthusiasts and university students.

WAI invests in the current and future workforce in order to contribute to building an inclusive, sustainable aerospace industry worldwide and to encourage women and girls to pursue a career in this sector. In this context, WAI supports its members through trainings, workshops, scholarship and mentoring programmes, as well as providing career opportunities by bringing them together with industry professionals.