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In a bustling corner of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, more than 100 girls from across South Florida stepped aboard a JetBlue Airbus A320 not as passengers, but as future pilots, engineers and airline leaders, as the carrier’s signature Fly Like a Girl program landed in the city for the first time.
South Florida Girls Get Rare Inside Look at Aviation Careers
The Fort Lauderdale event, held at Jetscape Services on the airport campus, gathered girls aged roughly 8 to 14 for a day that blended hands-on learning with candid conversations about what it takes to succeed in aviation. Instead of viewing aircraft from behind terminal windows, participants walked the ramp, toured an A320 and met the women who keep the airline operating safely every day.
Fly Like a Girl, launched nearly a decade ago, is designed to demystify the aviation industry for young women at an age when many are only beginning to consider future careers. By opening up flight decks, maintenance spaces and operations roles, JetBlue and its partners aim to show that piloting, aircraft mechanics, airport operations and corporate leadership are within reach.
Organizers say Fort Lauderdale’s role as one of JetBlue’s key focus cities made it a natural stage for the program. With the carrier adding new routes and boosting departures from South Florida, the airline is looking to cultivate a pipeline of local talent that reflects the communities it serves.
Throughout the day, small groups rotated through activity stations, where they could try out basic navigation concepts, learn about aircraft systems and talk one-on-one with women crewmembers ranging from captains and technicians to airport leaders and corporate staff.
Women Leaders Put Representation Front and Center
At the heart of Fly Like a Girl is visibility. JetBlue’s Women in Flight crewmember resource group, together with the JetBlue Foundation and the airline’s diversity, equity and inclusion team, assembled an all-star roster of female role models to anchor the Fort Lauderdale edition.
Ursula Hurley, JetBlue’s chief financial officer and president of the JetBlue Foundation, helped lead the program, underscoring the company’s message that women can occupy every level of the industry, from the cockpit to the C-suite. Alongside her were local government officials and community partners, signaling broad support for creating more pathways into high-skill, high-wage technical fields.
For many of the girls, it was the first time they had met a woman pilot or aircraft technician in person. Organizers noted that women still make up only a small fraction of licensed pilots and even fewer airline captains globally. By bringing an entire cross-section of female professionals together in one hangar, JetBlue sought to counter outdated stereotypes with tangible, diverse examples of success.
Crewmembers shared personal stories about overcoming barriers, balancing training with family responsibilities and finding mentorship in a traditionally male-dominated environment. Those frank discussions, paired with the excitement of being on the tarmac and in the cabin, were intended to leave lasting impressions long after the event wrapped.
Hands-On STEM Learning Fuels Aviation Dreams
Beyond role models, Fly Like a Girl is built around interactive STEM experiences that translate abstract classroom concepts into real-world problem-solving. In Fort Lauderdale, participants experimented with simple aerodynamics demonstrations, discussed how weather affects flight plans and learned how pilots and air traffic controllers coordinate to keep skies safe.
Inside the parked A320, girls took turns sitting in the flight deck, where crewmembers pointed out key instruments and explained how technology assists pilots from takeoff to landing. On the ramp, they observed ground operations, from loading procedures to safety checks, getting a rare glimpse into the choreography required to turn an aircraft on time.
Workshops also spotlighted non-flying careers that rely heavily on science, technology, engineering and math. Airline IT specialists, network planners and technicians shared how data, software and advanced materials shape everything from route maps to fuel efficiency. The goal, organizers said, is to broaden the definition of an aviation career far beyond the pilot’s chair.
By linking STEM skills to visible, exciting jobs, JetBlue hopes more girls will stay engaged in math and science through middle and high school, emerging as strong candidates for aviation pathways, technical apprenticeships and university programs in the years ahead.
Strengthening JetBlue’s Community Commitment in Fort Lauderdale
The Fort Lauderdale Fly Like a Girl stop also served as a visible reminder of JetBlue’s deepening investment in South Florida. In recent years the airline has expanded its route map and frequencies from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, positioning the city as a key leisure and connecting hub for flights across the United States, Caribbean and Latin America.
Company leaders have framed that growth as inseparable from a responsibility to the community, particularly when it comes to expanding access to quality jobs. Through the JetBlue Foundation, scholarships, grants and partnerships with local schools and nonprofits, the airline supports programs that introduce underrepresented youth to aviation and aerospace fields.
Local airport officials, who have highlighted Fly Like a Girl in their own community reports, see the event as part of a broader effort to align regional infrastructure investments with workforce development. As airports modernize terminals and airlines add capacity, there is rising demand for skilled employees in everything from airfield maintenance to customer service and air traffic support.
By anchoring Fly Like a Girl at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International, JetBlue and the airport authority are signaling that South Florida’s next generation of aviation professionals does not need to look elsewhere for opportunities. Instead, they can find a launching pad close to home, connected to one of the nation’s busiest and fastest-growing travel corridors.
A Growing Network of Events Inspiring Future Aviators
Fort Lauderdale joins a growing list of cities that have hosted Fly Like a Girl, including earlier editions in Orlando, Boston and other JetBlue focus markets. Each event is tailored to local needs, but all share a common design: free access for youth, immersive learning experiences and a strong presence from women crewmembers across the airline.
Organizers say interest in the program continues to climb as schools, community groups and families look for meaningful career exposure beyond the classroom. Waiting lists for spots are common, and many girls return year after year, deepening their knowledge and building lasting relationships with mentors.
As JetBlue continues to grow its Florida footprint with new routes and added frequencies, company leaders have indicated that community initiatives like Fly Like a Girl will expand alongside the network. That could mean more touchpoints for girls across the state to encounter aviation as a real, attainable option, not just a distant dream glimpsed from the airport concourse.
For the young participants who stepped onto the Fort Lauderdale tarmac under the South Florida sun, the experience marked a first step in that journey. Whether they ultimately become pilots, engineers, analysts or entrepreneurs in entirely different fields, organizers hope the message from the day stays with them: the sky, quite literally, is not the limit.