WOMEN OF ACHIEVEMENT
OCCUPATION: Airline pilot
EMPLOYER: Jetblue Airways
HOMETOWN: Santiago, Chile
MENTOR: Gabriel Mercado
HOBBY: playing tennis
FAVORITE BOOK: Interview with the Vampire
by Anne Rice
FAVORITE MOVIE: Silence of the Lambs
FAVORITE PLACES: Amsterdam in the winter,
Barcelona in the sumer
FAVORITE QUOTE/MOTTO: “Never take no
for an answer, you are the only person that can
limit your strengths and goals.”
the Latino Pilots Association in which she aims
at staying true to the organization's core values;
family, integrity, honesty, and pride. Turrieta is
also a member of the Air Line Pilots Association
serving as a member of the Critical Incident Response
Program (CIRP), Professional Standards
Committee, and the Pilot Assistance Network.
Recently, she was named the Air Line Pilots Association,
first National Chair for the President's
Committee for Diversity and Inclusion. Her work
and mission within these organizations are to
inspire, motivate, mentor, and advise the future
leaders of the aviation industry.
WOMEN OF ACHIEVEMENT
OCCUPATION: Managing director of Real
Estate & Facilities
EMPLOYER: American Airlines
HOMETOWN: Queens, NY
MENTOR: Ken Bower
HOBBY: Traveling
FAVORITE BOOK: Emotional Intelligence 2.0
by Travis Bradberry and Jean Graves
FAVORITE MOVIE: does not have one, she
loves all different movies
FAVORITE PLACES: Italy
FAVORITE QUOTE/MOTTO: “Success usually
comes to those who are too busy to be looking
for it.” - Henry Thoreau
AIRPORT VOICE, APRIL 2020 21
Camila Turrieta
JetBlue Airlines Pilot, Adjunct Professor Aviation Vaughn College
Camila Turrieta currently works as an airline
pilot with Jetblue Airways flying the Airbus
320/321 and as an adjunct professor of Aviation at
Vaughn College. She holds a variety of FAA certifications
including an Airline transport certificate
with type ratings on the Airbus 320/321, Boeing
737 and Embraer 170/190. She is also an FAA
certified flight instructor, aircraft dispatcher
and Unmanned Aerial Systems pilot.
Turrieta pursued her undergraduate studies
at Vaughn College, where she obtained a Bachelor
of Science degree specializing in aircraft operations.
Turrieta holds a master's degree from
Embry Riddle Aeronautical University with specializations
in aircraft accident investigation
and human factors. She is currently pursuing a
Doctor of Education degree focusing on higher
education and adult learning from Walden University.
Turrieta is an active volunteer with a variety
of aviation organizations such as Women in
Aviation, Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals
(OBAP), and the Latino Pilots Association.
She has served as the Vaughn College
Women in Aviation Chapter president in which
she spread the organization's message of inspiring,
engaging, and connecting women and girls
to the aviation industry. She is currently the first
woman to hold the senior position of the Aviation
Career Education (ACE) academy director
for OBAP in New York. Turrieta is also the first
woman to become the NYC Regional Director for
Palmina Whelan, CCM, FCMAA,
MCIOB Managing Director Corporate Real Estate, Facilities American Airlines
Palmina Whelan serves as managing director
of Real Estate & Facilities for American Airlines
in the Corporate Real Estate division and is responsible
for managing major multi-billion dollar
airport capital improvement projects in the
Northeast, Dallas and Central Regions of the U.S
and Canada.
Whelan is an accomplished leader and executive
with cross-industry expertise in design, construction,
construction management and program
management for both private and public
sectors of the aviation and construction industries.
Whelan’s responsibilities include engineering,
capital improvement programming and commercial
real estate. Whelan’s leadership guides
the overall strategic planning for the development
and construction of facilities in the airports
which are under her supervision. Whelan is a
champion of innovative and alternative project
delivery methods and has successfully executed
multiple integrated project delivery (IPD) construction
projects within the aviation industry
Whelan currently serves as a Board of Governor
on the New York Building Foundation
and a Board of Director for the Women’s Building
Council and was a member of the Technical
Committees for the LGA, EWR, BOS and DFW
aviation master programs. Whelan was recently
inducted into the College of Fellows by the Construction
Management Association. As an ardent
industry practitioner, Whelan is focused on
building highly functioning teams and an advocate
of value-driven collaboration within the industry.
She also served two terms (6 years) as a Board
of Director for the Construction Management Association
of America; the Chair for the CMAA
International Lead, where she successfully managed
the memorandum of understanding between
CMAA and other international construction industry
organizations, both in Europe and Asia.