Event brings together women professionals from the Brazilian airline industry for a chat about gender and aviation

On March 8, the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) promoted a chat with female professionals from the Brazilian airline industry as a way to celebrate International Women’s Day. With the theme “How is it to be a woman in the airline industry?”, the event was held in a digital environment in the format of a round table discussion. The broadcast can be followed live on ANAC's official YouTube channel (clink on the link to acess).

The goal was to reflect on the presence of women in Brazilian civil aviation, discussing gender, barriers and aspects such as training, attraction and retention of women in the airline market from the experience of these professionals. Mediated by Mariana Boabaid Dalcanale Rosa, ANAC’s head of Department of People Management, the panel will be composed of Eliana Cristina Ferreira (Azul Linhas Aéreas captain), Flávia Fraga (Embraer instructor flight attendant and commercial pilot with a Phenom jet license), Gláucia Balvedi (senior researcher at Boeing), Karen Bonfim (communication consultant in Brazil at ALTA), and Laiara Amorim (active pilot and creator of Quilombo Aéreo).

Meet the participants

Flávia Fraga

Born in Belo Horizonte (MG), Flávia Fraga worked as flight attendant in Rio Sul Linhas Aéreas/Varig for eight years. She is a trained private and commercial pilot, licensed to fly the Phenom 300 jet and, since 2006, has been an instructor flight attendant at Embraer.

Eliane Cristina Ferreira

Born in Caratinga (MG), Eliana holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration (Business Management) and has already worked as a ground agent for Varig Group, as a flight attendant for Trip and Total Linhas Aéreas, and as a CENIPA accredited element, working in the safety department of Total Linhas Aéreas. Between 2007 and 2014, she acted as co-pilot at Trip Linhas Aéreas. She was also a commander at Embraer and, today, works as a commander at Azul Linhas Aéreas.

Gláucia Balvedi

Responsible for research activities at Boeing Research & Technology in Brazil, Gláucia is focused on the operational efficiency of airspace, with emphasis on Ground-Based Aurgmentation System (GBAS). She is a specialist in radio signal propagation, aeronautical communication and electromagnetism. She has conducted research at the Applied Physics Laboratory of the University of Valencia (Spain) and was part of the CBERS satellite integration and testing team at the Chinese Space Center in 2014.

Karen Bonfim

A communicator specialized in crisis management and corporate communication, Karen was head of the Communications Office of the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) and, in 2021, was awarded the Mauá Merit Medal by the Ministry of Infrastructure for her work on behalf of the Brazilian infrastructure. She is currently a communications and public relations consultant for the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) in Brazil, and also coordinates corporate accounts for different industries.

Laiara Amorim

Laiara has been working in the airline industry for ten years, having started her career as a flight attendant. A flight attendant for seven years, Laiara is a scholar of gender and race relations in Brazilian aviation and has a bachelor's degree in aeronautical sciences (pilot-in-training). Post-graduated in management of social projects, she is also the creator of Quilombo Aéreo and of the project “Fly Like a Black Girl”, besides being an instructor in the project “Pretos que Voam” and black female leadership of the Marielle Franco project, of the Baobá Fund for Racial Equality.