Elsie Award Winner
This week we are recognizing another one of the eight 2026 Elsie award winners. Named after Elsie MacGill, the chief aeronautical engineer at Canadian Car and Foundry who oversaw the production of 1,451 Hawker Hurricanes during the Second World War, these are annual awards given by the Northern Lights Aero Foundation, an organization whose vision is “To be the Premier organization in Canada that inspires, supports, and promotes women in the field of aviation and aerospace.” You can learn more about the organization by clicking here.
The fourth of eight award recipients is featured this week.
Melissa Haney, recognized with the Flight Operations Award
Melissa Haney, an Inuk pilot from Inukjuak, is a Boeing 737 captain and flight operations support manager for Air Inuit. She began her career as a flight attendant and became inspired to pursue her pilot’s licence. She completed her commercial and multi-instrument flight training at Cornwall Aviation, which paved the way for her first flying job on a Twin Otter with Air Inuit. From there, she built her expertise through work in the training department and eventually rose to the position of Assistant Chief Pilot for Dash-8 operations. In the summer of 2021, she transitioned to flying the Boeing 737-200, contributing to both in-flight and simulator training. Beyond flying, Melissa oversees Air Inuit’s ‘Sparrow’ program, supporting Nunavummiut to pursue flying careers. She is an active volunteer for Elevate Aviation and was previously their Quebec Ambassador.
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