Cassandra Derks
Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Technology '16
Aircraft Maintenance Engineer (AME) Program Developer and Instructor, Alliance Maintenance Services

Ask Cassandra Derks to name her favourite aircraft and she doesn’t hesitate: the Boeing 737-200. 

“It really is the workhorse of the North,” she says. “It has a gravel kit, so it can land almost anywhere. It can sit outside all night, no engine heaters, and it’ll start at -40 C, no problem.” 

Those who know her might say that can also describe Derks herself. 

When she graduated in 2016, there were no aircraft maintenance engineer jobs anywhere in Alberta. But there were jobs in the Northwest Territories so, after an interview consisting of a single question — “When can you start?” — she packed her Jeep and drove 18 hours north to Fort Smith.  

There she apprenticed at Northwestern Air Lease, earned her M1 and M2 licences in Yellowknife — scoring 96% on her Transport Canada exam, the highest her examiner had ever seen — and took on some of aviation’s toughest jobs. As the base engineer at Canadian North in Resolute Bay, she kept aircraft serviceable in frigid temperatures so crews and cargo could reach communities across the high Arctic. Then, working on a charter supporting workers testing fuel systems in Nunavut’s most remote hamlets, she alone was responsible for keeping the aircraft flying. 

“It showed me I can pretty much do anything I put my mind to.” 

Early in her career, though, Derks experienced bullying and disrespect — and was told to grow thicker skin. Finding mentors through Elevate Aviation, a non-profit championing women in a field heavily dominated by men, changed everything. “Had I not found a mentor at that point, I probably wouldn’t be in this industry today,” she says. 

Now she volunteers her time so the next generation faces less friction, whether working in the air or on the ground. As Elevate’s aircraft maintenance competition coordinator, Derks leads all-women teams at skills competitions across Canada and the United States, and speaks at conferences, schools and events such as Girls in Aviation Day. “In some ways, I’m the voice for those that don’t have one,” she says. 

Her measure of meaningful change is simple. “If everyone who arrives on the hangar floor feels welcomed, respected and included, then things have changed for the better.”