Calgary pilots Kerri Rosenbaum and Malka Steinberg reach for the sky and soar

By Regan Lipes

(AJNews) – Since the introduction of commercial air travel, little girls have dreamed of becoming stewardesses. Now, this terminology is outdated, and a new generation of little girls has begun to imagine glamourous careers as flight-attendants – landing in a new city every day. Why though, for so long were these little girls, eventually capable young women, feeling that their positions in the air were predetermined by gender? Please don’t get me wrong; I have a beloved aunt who has built a phenomenal career as a flight-attendant, so there is no lack of respect here. Our flight-attendants are the first line when it comes to jet-setting, and anybody who has ever stepped foot on a plane can attest to the importance of their work and how patient they have to be. However, the same way that public opinion has only recently begun to regard nursing as a career not attached to any one gender, women pilots are starting to pave the way for this next generation of little girls to dream big without the constraints of societal gender prejudice.

As a child Kerri Rosenbaum, of Calgary, enjoyed flying, but didn’t consider a career as a pilot until her 20s. “My father is a dentist,” Rosenbaum explained.  “He had a patient come in, and she was going through the process of becoming a pilot. I was in my second year of postsecondary without any serious direction. At the time, it was an interesting avenue, and my dad suggested I look into it further.” Rosenbaum didn’t give this much consideration at the time.  “I was driving with my dad, and he casually asked me how long a runway is. I told him I had no idea. He looked at me and said: Well, if you were a pilot you’d know how long a runway is.”

Growing up in the Jewish community, Rosenbaum’s family always emphasized the importance of education, and she attributes her determination and drive to these core values. Once she finally set her sights on the pilot’s seat, she believed she had already missed the deadline to apply for the Aviation Diploma program at Mount Royal, but was soon accepted, and her new career had been cleared for take-off!

For Malka Steinberg, also of Calgary, the allure of the skies had deep roots. “I was curious as a kid, and I remember that I always wanted to see if the crew would let me take a look at the flight deck,” she recalled. For Steinberg, who completed an undergraduate program in mathematics with one year spent abroad at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, her journey to the cockpit took a different route. “I was going to university, but I was floundering. I wasn’t liking it, so my dad said: ‘Just quit Malka.’ He was using the reverse psychology approach and it worked because I finished,” she mused. “But after that I wasn’t sure what I’d do. Calgary used to have a career centre where they had these huge books with different jobs and information about training for them.” So began Steinberg’s adventure. She completed her three-year training in Ontario, and the rest is history.

Both Rosenbaum and Steinberg are now pilots at WestJet balancing the demands of high-pressure careers with family life. Not to mention, both are also married to pilots. “It’s always a juggling act,” explained Steinberg. “But I have family here, and our kids are extremely close to their grandparents. My 7-year-old daughter and I make time to read stories together, and I don’t think that any of our kids feel a lack of attention. There’s always me, my husband, or their grandparents, so they’re surrounded by constant love.” She believes that this is one crucial aspect of her life where Jewish values play a fundamental role.

“The story begins in the shtetl,” she mused. “Seriously, because my grandparents were such a huge influential part of my life, and that’s where their stories began.”

“They survived the Holocaust,” she added. She continued her story by elaborating that her intense work ethic and drive were inspired by how hard she saw her parents working when she was young. “My father owned a framing business, and my mother ran a small gifts and housewares shop. But my mother’s dedication to helping people is really where she made her impact. She has done so much to help Russian-Jewish immigrants resettle in Canada. Her social work degree has been grandfathered in as recognition of her dedication to community.”

Steinberg, as a pilot, is responsible for the safety and wellbeing of all passengers and crew, and she credits her mother for instilling within her a profound respect for duty to others. “My grandfather was the same. He would go out of his way for people, and he’d never say a word about it. Even complete strangers.”

Rosenbaum, who grew up competitive ski racing, has known from a young age that discipline and determination are what lead to success. Along with a Jewish education, she has continued to soar to new heights. “I don’t look at my job as anything special or see it as significant that I’m female,” she said modestly. “I do a good job because I’m a professional and my work matters to me.  I want to know that I earned my position because I am a professional. Women are a minority in this work, so I am proud to be where I am.”

In fact, out of 40 graduates from her aviation program, only 5 were women. “If I can inspire someone with what I do, then I’d like to; it’s important to me that my own kids don’t see limitations. Why settle for average when you can be extraordinary?”

If it sounds like Rosenbaum and Steinberg have a lot in common, its because their lives have followed similar flight-plans. Despite both being Jewish female pilots in an industry where women represent only 8% of the profession, they’re also close friends. “There’s a small age gap, but I knew Kerri through friends in the community before we were both pilots. We even got to fly together once!”

Rosenbaum and Steinberg bid on flights closer to home so that they can spend time with their families, but sometimes it can still feel like they are in the air more than with their feet on the ground. “I don’t know if I have achieved or will ever achieve a work-life-balance,” chuckled Steinberg. “But I do what I can, and I think it’s really meaningful for my kids to see both of their parents working hard.”

So, for all those little girls out there with their dreams high up in the clouds, Rosenbaum and Steinberg want them to know that it is all possible. There may be course corrections along the way, unforeseen turbulence to compensate for, but the pilot’s seat is no longer a throne of the patriarchy, and Rosenbaum and Steinberg are soaring examples of how women can be celebrated within prestigious professions while also being devoted mothers.

Regan Lipes is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter.