Aviation has long been an industry defined by ambition — the relentless pursuit of altitude, distance, and possibility. Yet for women within the sector, the most significant barriers have rarely been technical. They have been structural. SkyTeam’s RISE Women’s Leadership Development Programme was created to dismantle those barriers, one cohort at a time.
Now in its fourth year, the 2026 edition of RISE has officially launched — with a kickoff event hosted by Virgin Atlantic in London that brought together participants from across the global alliance’s member airlines, united by a shared commitment to something the industry still owes its women: a clear and supported path to the top.
A Curriculum Built for the Realities of Leadership:
This year’s programme carries the theme Career Progression Through Elevation of Leadership Skills — and the curriculum is structured to deliver on that promise in concrete, practical terms. Participants will move through three focused educational blocks: Impactful and Inclusive Leadership, Nurturing Mentoring Relationships, and Effective Communication Skills — a progression that moves from internal conviction to external influence.
The 2026 RISE cohort comprises 29 participants drawn from a broad spectrum of functional roles — operations, finance, commercial, information technology, and beyond. This cross-functional breadth is deliberate. Leadership in aviation does not belong to one department, and neither does this programme.
Following the London launch, participants will progress through the nine-month programme, completing the full curriculum in November 2026. The journey culminates in a practical, personal deliverable: a leadership action plan that each participant develops as a springboard for continued advancement well beyond the programme’s close. RISE is designed not just to inspire, but to equip — to send its fellows back into their organisations with something actionable in hand.
SkyTeam CEO Patrick Roux has been unambiguous about why this work matters. Women remain significantly underrepresented across aviation, particularly in leadership. For a global alliance of RISE’s scale, that is not a statistic to observe — it is a responsibility to act on. Through RISE, Roux noted, SkyTeam is committed to providing a platform where women can accelerate their careers, build lasting networks, and fully embrace their leadership potential.
Among the 29 participants advancing through the 2026 programme, four voices stand out as emblematic of the range and depth this cohort represents:
Trudo McDonald, Manager of International Customer Experience at Delta Air Lines, brings a front-line perspective on how leadership shapes the passenger journey at a global scale.
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Lainie Seo, Team Lead for Cabin Product Strategy at Korean Air, represents the intersection of product thinking and people leadership in one of Asia’s most storied carriers.
Chef Hari Kamaluddin, Senior Manager of Inflight Food & Beverage Development at Virgin Atlantic, leads with creativity and precision in a role that shapes how millions of travellers experience the airline at 35,000 feet.
Maud Audibert, Programme Manager for End User Services at Air France, brings a technology and operations lens to the cohort — a reminder that leadership in aviation runs as much through systems as it does through service.
An Industry Investing in Itself
RISE is now four years old. That is four cohorts, four groups of women sent back into the industry better equipped, better connected, and more confident in their leadership identities. The cumulative effect of that investment is difficult to quantify — but its direction is unmistakable.
For SkyTeam, the message is consistent: a more inclusive aviation industry is not an aspiration sitting on a values statement. It is a programme, a curriculum, a cohort, and a deadline — November 2026, when the next group of leaders will be ready to rise.