Aug. 26, 2013
Rebecca Hughes began her aviation career in May 2011 as a first-time scheduler at C&S Aviation Services in New Hampshire, with no prior business aviation experience. She had “fallen into” aviation, and eventually ended up falling in love with it. A mom with two young kids at home, Hughes’ goal was to attend her first annual NBAA Schedulers & Dispatchers (S&D) Conference. Unfortunately, her employer wasn’t able to fund her trip to the conference, and she couldn’t afford to pay out of her own pocket, so she applied for an NBAA S&D Monetary Scholarship in hopes of securing the necessary funds through a cash award.
Hughes first learned about the S&D scholarship program through her coworker, Eve Gregory, who is a member of the S&D Committee. “The [application] process was very easy, especially for what you can get out of it,” said Hughes. “The hardest part was having the confidence to write ‘great things’ about myself in the essay. I liked the checklist on the application and found it to be very helpful.” However, she had her doubts and wondered, “Why would they choose me with so little aviation experience?”
Fortunately, Hughes was chosen to receive a 2013 S&D Monetary Scholarship in the amount of $2,000, so that she could attend the 2013 conference held in San Antonio, TX. Hughes really enjoyed her first conference experience, where she was able to network with FBO representatives, make new friends and aviation contacts, and hear other people’s points of view on issues.
She also appreciated the opportunity to put the names with the faces of people at companies she worked with every day. There was so much for her to do as a first-time attendee, and she returned home after the conference knowing for sure that working in aviation was what she wanted to do for a career.
Hughes was grateful that her conference experience had confirmed for her that “this is what I am supposed to be doing,” and she also knew that she would never have been able to make it to the conference without the funds that were provided by her NBAA scholarship. While she is no longer working in aviation at the present time, Hughes would ideally like to return soon as a scheduler – and maybe someday become a licensed dispatcher.
Hughes learned that she shouldn’t have doubted her qualifications. The S&D scholarship program grants scholarships to schedulers and dispatchers at every stage of their careers — whether they are brand new or looking to begin an S&D career, all the way up to a seasoned veteran with many years of experience.
Application Checklist
Anyone working in aviation or looking to begin a career in aviation is eligible to apply for NBAA’s Schedulers & Dispatchers Scholarships, which are online at:
Here’s a quick and easy application checklist to get started:
- Complete the monetary or training scholarship application.
- Write a 500-word essay.
- Include a copy of a current resume.
- Include two letters of recommendation.
- Submit the completed application package (including all of the above) by the deadline on the application.
About the Scholarships
The NBAA Schedulers & Dispatchers Committee is dedicated to promoting education and training as a means for business aviation schedulers and dispatchers to enhance their careers. In conjunction with many generous donors, the committee offers a wide range of monetary and training awards each year, giving away awards of up to $10,000 per applicant.
The NBAA Schedulers & Dispatchers Committee is grateful for the ongoing support of all of its scholarship donors: Signature Flight Support, Universal Weather and Aviation Inc., AC-U-KWIK, Jet Aviation, Savoya, Rockwell Collins Flight Information Solutions, Airline Ground Schools, Beyond and Above Corporate Flight Attendant Training, CornerStone Strategies LLC, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Fireside Partners, FlightSafety International, Frontier/Medex, Jeppesen, MedAire, Inc. and NBAA Air Traffic Services (formerly the NBAA GA Desk). Direct scholarship questions to NBAA at (202) 783-9250 or info@nbaa.org.
International Business Aviation Council Ltd.