As companies continue to double down on diversity and inclusion, Delta Air Lines says it wants to be the airline that moves the needle for minorities in aviation.
When Delta Air Lines Captain Guy Stallworth, 54, first took part of the airline’s annual “Dream Flight” roughly 20 years, an initiative aimed at educating underrepresented youth interested in aviation, he never thought it would become what it is today.
Since then, in partnership with the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals (OBAP), Delta Dream Flight has hosted thousands of minority students over the last 20 years, ages 13-18, who are interested in all things related to aviation.
It has become one of the company's key initiatives for promoting diversity and inclusion in aviation.
“I grew up in Los Angeles and there wasn’t a single pilot I ever met in my community, so I thought if I ever become a pilot that it would be invaluable for me to motivate young kids from communities like my mine, " Stallworth said.
On the 20th anniversary of Dream Flight, Stallworth, who was also a former program coordinator of the first Dream Flight in 2000, flew more than 150 students on July 16 to Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida, alongside his two-decade mentee Delta First Officer Jerome Wellons.
The Dream Flight program led Guy to become Wellons’ mentor in 2001, and Guy has since helped Wellons in the process of becoming a pilot.
“When I met Captain Stallworth in 2001, he was the person I wanted to be. He kind of laid the foundation for me and helped me build a path to the rest of my career,” Wellons said. “It was the first time I got an inside look of what it really means to be a pilot at Delta.”
Delta (NYSE: DAL) and OBAP's goal with Dream Flight is to grow teenagers' interest in aviation through fun and educational opportunities, and pair those students with mentors to help them navigate their future aviation careers.
To host Dream Flight, the airline teams up with OBAP's Aviation Career Education (ACE) Academy and Solo Flight Academy summer programs for underrepresented youth who have an interest in aviation.
Once students on Dream Flight arrived in Pensacola, they watched the United States Navy Blue Angels practice, toured the National Navy Aviation Museum and the Naval Flight Officer training wing and viewed the Apollo 11 film.
“I found out about the program through my best friend’s mom, and I knew it would open my horizons to meet new people in the field and talk about their experiences," said Kayla Sloan, 17, who is part of the program and wants to become a commercial airline pilot. "I’ve been looking out the window ever since I was little knowing that I want to see and explore the world around me."
Delta Dream Flight is one piece in its pipeline to make aviation more accessible through programs like Propel, the airline’s career path program, which aims to develop the next generation of pilots.
Out of 80,000 Delta employees, roughly 40% are U.S. ethnic minorities and 60% are white, according to its most recent corporate responsibility report. Roughly 59.1% of Delta employees are men and almost 40.9% are women.
"When we had our CEO transition, we really birthed an increased focus on diversity and inclusion,” said Keyra Johnson, Delta’s chief officer of diversity and inclusion. "We don't think diversity just happens. We actually believe that you have to work for it and go after it. People think that seeking diversity means seeking ready-now diversity but what I like about programs like this [Dream Flight] is that we're seeking diverse talent for the future."
