This year’s International Aerospace Women’s Association (IAWA) European Leadership Forum in Berlin was different. For the first time, the two-day event with nearly 100 participants was embedded within the ILA Berlin Airshow, in cooperation with German aerospace association BDLI. Conversations about leadership, talent and industry strategy took place on the same floor as the European aerospace exhibitors shaping future technologies for civil and military aviation. Specifically, all panels were composed by female leaders only.
Female executives set the tone
The opening day’s keynote from Aletta von Massenbach, CEO of Berlin Airport, set the scene, sharing the bright history of aviation in Germany’s capital while considering today’s realities. Airport BER is still rebuilding passenger numbers after the Covid-19 decline; the regulatory and high-cost environment in Germany is blamed by airlines as a major reason for withdrawing their connections and growing operations elsewhere. Aletta also had some sobering statistics to share with the fellow IAWA members about airport leadership in 2026: “Of the 47 top management roles at airports in Germany, only 6 are women”.
The state of the industry executive panel focussed on supply chain challenges, global competitiveness, rising military demand and scaling aerospace production in Europe. Sustainability ran through the discussion as a technology challenge: the industry’s ability to decarbonise depends on whether solutions can be delivered in time. The panelists also addressed the human dimension of leadership under pressure. The advice was direct: “focus on your strengths”, “ignore your inner imposter” and “do not just rely on performance”.
Space is not the final frontier, it is today’s battlefield
European Space Agency (ESA) Director of Earth Observation Programmes, Simonetta Cheli, opened the space and defence discussion on how satellite-based capabilities are increasingly inseparable from European resilience and security. The panel, featuring executives from DLR, Airbus Protect and OHB System AG alongside astronaut Rabea Rogge and academia, Dr. Antje Nötzhold, pulled no punches, noting that: space today functions as cyberspace. Civil-military applications present significant opportunities alongside daily cyber threats. With some 15,000 satellites now in orbit, space traffic management has become unavoidable. Deterrence logic – familiar from terrestrial security – is transferring to orbit including the concept of ‘deter by denial’, ensuring that any attack on space infrastructure produces no exploitable effect.
Rabea Rogge brought an additional aspect to the discussion. Working in extreme environments such as polar regions, deep ocean and space demands total resource awareness and reliance on autonomous systems. “Space is a very strict teacher,” she observed. All panellists also promoted the many career opportunities in the space segment.
Skills that will not survive the decade
No organisation in this sector can defer the workforce question. Leadership from Thales, Airbus, Rolls-Royce, GKN Aerospace, DFS and PANSA joined the panel. A central argument was acknowledged: “Skills usually have a short shelf life, in particular in technology,” noted Andrea Lauber, Thales. Adaptability and willingness to learn matter more than any specific competency. As one panelist explained, “competences you can learn but we need experience as well, which comes with time and by making mistakes”.
On the inevitable subject of artificial intelligence (AI), the issue is not AI versus humans but humans empowered by AI. AI is here, and the panelists agreed that there should be a good culture to work with AI. “AI is already faster than us,” another panelist said. On cyber skills specifically, industry noted that the market was not providing enough to create the pipeline – a reminder that waiting for institutional education systems to catch up is not a strategy and companies are building their own.
Attracting talent is essential in a growing sector. Magdalena Jaworska’s comment that companies who deliver credibility and trust to employees will not have an issue in recruitment was widely supported. The panel flagged a related failure: the aerospace and space industry has an amazing purpose but struggles to communicate it. People cannot engage with an industry they cannot see. Those already in the sector received an equally direct message: “be resilient for the challenges which are coming”.
A panel of women stopped people in their tracks
Aerospace panels composed only of women are rare. ESA’s own data provides context: 30% of senior management roles are held by women, and 24% of astronaut applicants are women. Such statistics indicate progress that is real, but incomplete. The pipeline still requires active management and the culture requires demonstration.
Visibility is key, as a participant observed: “People stopped in their tracks on the ILA floor. The reaction was not one of surprise at seeing women in aerospace – it was the sight of women leading, all together, on one stage, that still gives people pause.”
Why these events still matter
Leadership is not a function of seniority or technical mastery but a question of creating impact. IAWA’s president and Global Airspace Radar’s editor, Marita Lintener, hit the nail on the head: “You will not deliver innovation, resilience and growth if you neglect 50% of the potential workforce”. The European aerospace sector has the ambition to grow and, increasingly, the political backing. But this will only succeed if you are inclusive and attract the best talents. What is required now is structured workforce development, supply chain coherence and cross-sector collaboration to convert ambition into sustained competitive performance.
