2 female Inuit pilots made history when they flew together. They hope this is a start

Melissa Haney and Zoe Crunenburg have flown hundreds of times from Montreal to Puvirnituk, in the Nunavik region of northern Quebec.

But Tuesday's two-and-a-half-hour cargo flight, with Haney as captain and Crunenburg as first officer aboard the Air Inuit Boeing 737, was different.

It was the first time they both flew with someone who looked like them.

“Representation is important,” Haney said.

“What I've been waiting for is two female Inuit pilots coming forward. So I'm really excited that this day is coming.”

It took Hani 20 years.

When she began flying for Air Inuit in 2004, Haney was the only female Inuk pilot and the first female Air Inuit captain. Among the 220 pilots currently employed by the airline, there are four female Inuit pilots.

“Others have come and gone over the years, but this is the most we've had at one time in our company. And it's always been Inuit pilots, not women,” Haney said.

“If we look at pilots, aircraft maintenance engineers, air traffic controllers, all these jobs in aviation, women are very underrepresented… I think it's going to take a long time to turn the wheel, but it's coming slowly.”

Sharing news of their career milestones online, Haney and Crownenburg were flooded with messages of support as they highlighted the need to hire more Inuit and women into a profession that can be difficult for people from northern communities.

The importance of “seeing someone who looks like you.”

Originally from Inukjuak, Nunavik, Haney fell in love with aviation after becoming a flight attendant in 2001 and meeting Inuit pilots on the job.

“Seeing someone who looks like you and looks like you is important to getting you going and getting the career you want,” Haney said.

“We're trying to get a lot of Inuit people working in the airline industry, and the pilot position is one of them.”

Before becoming a pilot in 2019, Crownenburg, who is from Kuuijjuarapik, Nunavik, was a flight attendant through the Sparrow Program, an Air Inuit initiative that helps guide Inuit candidates to become pilots.

“I was a flight attendant on Melissa's first flight as captain,” Crunenburg said.

“When we landed in Montreal, I asked all the passengers to stay on board and give him a round of applause.”

“Proud moment” for Air Inuit

Since then, Crunenburg says Haney has been a mentor to him, even attending his graduation.

“It really changed my life, it really changed my career,” Crunenburg said.

“There aren't that many of us. So like Melissa said, representation is important. When we travel, when we go to work in Nunavik, a lot of girls see us and I think it's very inspiring for them.”

Air Inuit President and CEO Christian Bush said Crunenburg and Haney's recent trip north marked the first time an Inuk female captain and co-pilot flew a 737 for Air Inuit.

He said the two women, who are among the airline's 20 Inuit pilots, are “an inspiration to the youth of Nunavik.”

“(It's) a very proud moment,” Bush said. “To see that we have an Air Inuit Sparrow student with a famous captain: Melissa (and) Zoe in the cockpit… They're great ambassadors.”

According to Bush, the Sparrow program has been in operation for about 10 years, and Haney, as one of the coordinators, travels to Nunavik to meet with prospective students. According to Bush, in the last 20 years, women's interest in technical careers has increased.

“We're looking forward to it, and we're going to give Melissa and our team all the tools they need to try to get more ladies in the booth,” Bush said.

Cost, education among barriers to career in aviation

But Haney noted that there may be several barriers to Inuit pursuing aviation, particularly cost and access to education. The Sparrow program covers the costs, and Haney says that without that help, getting a pilot's license would be too expensive for most people.

“It's over $100,000 … You know from A to Z,” Haney said.

“The next concern for most students is education. We know that education in the North in many Indigenous communities can be poor (comparatively) compared to the rest of Canada.”

He works with Elevate Aviation, a Canadian non-profit organization that promotes small groups in the industry. In May, the organization will travel to more than 30 cities, including Montreal and Quebec City, to make presentations to encourage young people to consider careers in aviation.

Haney hopes to become famous as a pilot when he retires.

“It's the year 2024, and to see two women piloting a plane is a big thing,” Haney said.

“So I'm hoping it becomes a normal thing.”