The United Airlines Historical Foundation awarded its first annual Captain William S. Arnott scholarships to the daughter of a United Airlines employee and the granddaughter of a United retiree..

Rebecca Ann Kizor

Rebecca is a senior at Southern Illinois University (SIU) in Carbondale, Illinois. She is the daughter of United Reservation and Sales Service Representative Tonna K. Kizior. Her grandfather was a private pilot in Oklahoma. Rebecca’s major is aviation flight management. She states, “I was first introduced to the skies as an embryo. You see, my mother worked for Pan American Airways at that time and then she started to work for United 19 years ago”.

Rebecca told UAHF she had a very busy and exciting 2003 fall semester. She finished her Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) and was hired as a student flight instructor at SIU. It was exciting and challenging for her to have four flight students and to be able to help them to achieve their flight goals.

During Rebecca’s January 2004 semester, she was given three flight students and was approved for AF304, which is the practicum in the Air Carrier Operations Charter course. This will enable her to gain experience and increase her multi-engine time.

Charlotte Rose Bennett

Charlotte is a senior at the University of South Dakota (UND) in Grand Forks. She is pursuing a double major in commercial aviation and flight education. Her interest in aviation came from her grandfather Robert G. Ratcliffe, a pilot for 34 years. Charlotte told UAHF her grandfather “flew 35 missions in B17s in World War II, then he flew Viscounts, B727s and DC10s commercially. Grandpa retired from United Airlines in 1979, but he was always “The Captain”. My aspiration is to join a commercial airline and fly internationally”.

She went on to say “I finished my certified flight instructor instrument course and am attending summer school now to get my multi-engine instructor. Summer school goes for another four weeks, but I am finished after that. This is my last semester at UND and I plan to graduate on August 6, 2004!!!! After that, hopefully I will find a flight instructor position at a school and instruct for a while. I am thinking of instructing at UND.”