WAI On Air Podcast

✈️🎙️ Meet Maddie Allen, Auburn University student and the youngest woman to earn a Cirrus Vision Jet SF50 Type Rating.

Maddie grew up around airplanes, watching her father chase his own dream of flight. She began flight training in November 2024, just weeks before her 17th birthday, and went on to earn her private pilot certificate and instrument rating. In March 2026, she completed an intense two-week Vision Jet type rating course at the Cirrus Vision Center in Knoxville, Tennessee—and walked out to a custom-engraved trophy reading "Youngest Female Vision Jet Pilot 2026."

Today, Maddie has logged more than 160 flight hours and holds high-altitude and high-performance endorsements. She is a freshman at Auburn University, where she plans to study business while working toward her commercial pilot certificate. Her goals include seaplane training, a professional career in aviation, and flying to all 50 states.

In this conversation, Maddie shares what it was like to step up to a jet, how she's balancing college with flight training, and her advice for any young girl who loves airplanes but isn't sure she belongs in a cockpit: chase your dreams, and don't doubt yourself.

🎧 Available on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, and Amazon Music.

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Meet Natalee Johnston, the first female pilot in the Royal Australian Navy.

Natalee grew up on a farm in Western Australia and joined the Navy at 17. In 1998, after completing her undergraduate studies and military flight training, she became the Royal Australian Navy's first female pilot — and the only one for eight years. Over a 24-year naval career, she served as a helicopter instructor, operations manager, flight commander, squadron leader, and safety professional, flying aircraft from the Sea King to the fly-by-wire MRH-90 Taipan.

Today, Natalee operates her business, Skilful Decisions, from the New South Wales South Coast. She serves as a board director of the National Safety Council Australia and a local government councillor, holds a Bachelor of Science in Physics, a Postgraduate Certificate in Accident Investigation, a Diploma in Lead Auditing, and a master's in business. Her message to anyone who doesn't see someone like themselves in the career they dream of: if you can't see it, why not be it?

Natalee speaks candidly about imposter syndrome — not as something you defeat, but something you learn to live with — and about pivoting from the security of the military into aviation safety and self-employment. She shares what real partnership looks like for two pilots raising a family and why she wishes she'd found WAI sooner.

🎧 Available on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, and Amazon Music.

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#WomeninAviationInternational #IamWAI #WeAreWAI #Aviation #Aerospace #WAITogether #WAIOnAir #WAIPodcast #AviationPodcast

Meet Sasha Johnson, Vice President of Corporate Safety at United. Sasha oversees a remarkably broad safety portfolio at United — worldwide aviation safety, ground safety, quality assurance, medical, workers' compensation, managed care, business continuity, family assistance, and emergency operations.

Before stepping into this role, Sasha spent five years as United's managing director of international regulatory and policy. Prior to joining United in 2015, she built a career in Washington, D.C., including as chief of staff at the FAA and as assistant to the secretary, director of public affairs, and press secretary at the DOT — work that put her in crisis management alongside the FAA Administrator and the DOT Secretary. Before her time in government, Sasha spent more than a decade in broadcast journalism at CNN, including covering campaigns and elections as a senior producer.

A graduate of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, Sasha brings a rare combination of journalism, government, and airline experience to one of the industry's most demanding safety roles.

🎧 Available on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, and Amazon Music.

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#WomeninAviationInternational #IamWAI #WeAreWAI #Aviation #Aerospace #WAITogether #WAIOnAir #WAIPodcast #AviationPodcast

Meet Nicole Battjes, owner of Rainbow Helicopters, the largest air tour company in Oahu, Hawaii. 
Nicole founded Rainbow Helicopters in 2011 at just 27 years old, starting with herself and a single helicopter. Today, the multi-island Part 135 air carrier has grown into a thriving multi-million-dollar company with 55 team members and a fleet of 10 helicopters. With more than 13 years of industry and commercial flight experience, Nicole has flown over 5,000 tours and logged more than 3,500 flight hours — serving as Rainbow's chief pilot from 2017-2022, the only woman to hold that position in the Hawaiian helicopter community at the time, before stepping into her current role. 
Beyond the cockpit, Nicole has led the vertical aviation community at the highest level, serving as the 2023-2024 board chair for Vertical Aviation International (VAI) previously the Helicopter Association International (HAI) — becoming, in a first for the association's 75-year history, chair while 7 months pregnant, and assuming her duties just two weeks after the birth of her second son. She was recognized in 2023 with Pacific Business News' 40 Under 40 and the National Business Aviation Association's 40 Under 40 awards, and Rainbow's community-first culture — including its relief efforts for mothers and babies after the Lahaina fires — has earned honors including the National Aeronautic Association's Public Benefit Flying Award. 
A longtime WAI member since 2002, Nicole has built a company where women are represented in every facet of the business, and she's made it a mission to help other mothers stay at the forefront of their careers while raising families. 
🎧 Available on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. 
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Meet Alex Marren, retired senior airline and transportation executive, most recently chief operating officer of Air New Zealand. 
Alex brings more than 35 years of success across the aviation, automotive, travel, and transportation industries. As COO at Air New Zealand, she led a team of 9,000 aviation professionals, driving safety, service, and transformation through technology and process. Earlier in her career, she rose through leadership ranks at United Airlines — including senior vice president of Network Operations and United Express, where she oversaw more than 3,500 daily flights across 250 cities on a $6B annual budget — before leading Rent-a Car Operations for The Hertz Corporation and later serving as president of ABM Aviation. 
A Harvard College graduate, Alex has also devoted years to nonprofit board service, including with the American Red Cross and Alliant Credit Union, and has been a longtime sponsor and advocate for AWESOME, an organization advancing women's excellence in supply chain, operations, and transportation. 
🎧 Available on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. 
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#WomeninAviationInternational #IamWAI #WeAreWAI #Aviation #Aerospace #WAITogether #WAIOnAir #WAIPodcast #AviationPodcast