Airworthy

Here in this modern supercharger plant,

the manpower shortage is being solved by training women

to do almost the entire job.

Let's take a look at the machining jobs

these girls are doing.

This work gives you a good idea of what a girl can do.

Hands starting machines, hands pulling levers,

hands grimy with oil and grease,

hands doing intricate jobs,

hands working for America.

Women's hands.

From machining to shipping,

women have so efficiently played the dominant role

in making this turbo supercharger

that American aviators today are able to fly higher

and faster than their enemies.

These girls are proud to have a share

in making possible aircraft performance unequal

anywhere in the world.

Woman power comes through for victory.

My name is Adela. I'm from Chicago.

I grew up in Little Village

and I absolutely love Little Village.

It's a whole bunch of Mexicans and Hispanics

and Latin Americans.

I just, I love our communities down there

where we're just very soulful.

We always have this rivalry in Chicago,

the North Siders versus the South Siders,

even though we're all Chicago.

I like to say whenever I'm on the North Side

that the North Siders can smell a South Sider. (Chuckles)

They can always tell when we're not from there

and same thing with a South Sider,

we can tell right away when you're not from the South Side.

When I was younger I was a restless sleeper,

so the only thing that would get me to sleep

would be car rides.

And my dad loved going to Midway

and watching the planes take off and land.

I remember, I believe I was maybe four years old,

we would stop by a local neighborhood pizza spot,

grab some pizzas,

park by Midway and just watch the planes.

I was very amazed on how airplanes

just take off like nothing and land like nothing.

Like if they're feathers,

even though it's this big, manmade, massive thing.

And I always wondered like how they got fixed

or how they worked

and that always stuck by me up until like

I didn't know what to do with the career.

And then my dad found AIM

and I was like, yes, now this is how it works.

So AIM Chicago is an aviation maintenance school.

So it teaches students all about the tricks

and trade of aviation maintenance.

Our school is located on the South Side,

which is very convenient for a lot of people.

It's also bringing a lot of life to back of the yards.

That is the community that it's in.

Yeah.

We wanted to bring you all in here

to make a special announcement to you all.

And with that said, I'm turning it over

to Dr. English. - Yeah, right. Thank you.

I appreciate that, Isaac.

Appreciate it.

So this year's Aviation Maintenance Competition Conference

is right here in Chicago.

Now that's awesome.

And United Airlines has said we wanna sponsor a team

and we would like it to be all women.

AIM has never had an all female team

compete at the aerospace maintenance competition before.

And much less sponsored by, you know,

a big name like United Airlines.

And so what they've done is asked for the two of you

who have had experience in competitions

to be the team leaders

and for us to find four more female mechanics

who'd like to be part of that competition.

I'm gonna be honest with you

about why I'm so passionate about you

and proud of what you're going to accomplish.

If you raise your hand and say, "I'd like to do this,"

and that's this, less than 3% of all certified

aircraft technicians are women.

But I don't know if it ticks you off

as much as it ticks me off that this has been

a industry hidden from Phoenix, right?

When you are better technicians than we are

and yet 97 out of 100 technicians are men

and we're here to break that.

And so, you all are here to show how it's done.

Believe in yourself 'cause you know it.

I know you know it.

I know we can beat them in this too.

So I can't wait to see all the lovely ladies

that wanna be on the all women's team.

So I can't wait.

Well, I don't have any children, but I do.

These are my babies.

They're learning everything they need to know

to take care of themselves.

I really honestly feel women are more mechanically inclined.

So I think it's perfect for women

'cause we're very meticulous and we're multitaskers anyway.

So this is precisely what this job consists of.

Some of these young ladies where they come from,

it's just not heard of you working,

let alone being a mechanic.

Like I say, our cultural backgrounds just does not even

go down that road of being a mechanic,

let alone the breadwinner.

The good old Chicago streets.

All of us go through our trials

between just trying to get up every day

with no sirens, no bullet holes in your house,

just making it to where you have to go on the buses,

not getting shot, not getting hit.

It's a lot of different things that these young ladies

have to kinda maneuver on a daily basis just to get here.

Like I say, just sometimes making sure they have food.

You understand?

They have families.

Personally, if I had a job

that I could take care of my parents financially,

I would be set.

I don't have to worry anymore.

I wouldn't have to color all my gray hairs

that my mother likes to give me. (Chuckles)

Let's say, for example, if my mother needs

to go to the doctor or if she doesn't have money

for fixing her truck to get around,

it would really be a big relief.

One time I came into the house

and I saw her with her sister walking to the computer,

the tower was assembled.

I said, "What the hell?"

I asked her what's going on?

She say, "Dad, we put one disc"

and we could not remove the disk.

So one disc was inside to the tray

and they, her sister push another disc into

that is the reason why it doesn't came out.

So, they disassemble the whole tower

and tried to rescue this.

Yeah, a lot of troubles with her.

- Good enough? - No.

Your license here.

Mm-hmm.

She is gonna be a airframe technician.

She's gonna be working with her hands

so that's gonna be amazing for her.

Okay. Bye, pa. (Speaking in foreign language)

- Yeah, the requirement. - Okay.

They've taught me to be a hard worker.

They've taught me to not only

are you working for what you want,

but also respect the people

that are there to help you out.

I think the American dream for me

is finding opportunities and chasing those opportunities

even if they're not available to me.

I'm in an industry where women aren't known

for being mechanics.

I'm a minority. I'm a Latina.

I'm supposed to be, by the status quo,

I'm supposed to be at home learning how to cook.

I'm supposed to be in an office job

with, you know, professional clothes.

Or some people expect that I would fail

and work at a factory 'cause I didn't finish school.

But it's interesting the progress that was made.

Obviously it's not a lot.

We should have a lot more progress but we're getting there.

I mean, you know, those women are powerful

and they're really inspiring.

My Adela, the one who always let the boys know

that they are not as good as her, that Adela.

If Adela gets something wrong,

I actually have to go check to make sure

that it's not a typo (chuckles)

'Cause she's always right.

She's one of the smartest young ladies I know

and if it's time to do a project, it's done properly,

timely, and in order.

So that's what I love about her.

Yes.

And that's how I know.

I've had all the girls as students, let's just say that

and the skies is the limit for Rebecca.

Now my age is gonna show,

I call Rebecca my Punky Brewster. (Chuckles)

She's the sweetest, smartest,

attentive young lady I know

and I definitely know that this field is so for her.

She can go anywhere, any place.

My name is Rebecca. I'm from Chicago.