As a young girl, whenever Lamar Sallee looked to the sky, she was in awe of the airplanes gliding
through the atmosphere. Now, hardly a day goes by that she doesn’t come in contact with one.
“I have loved airplanes since I was a kid, so it seemed inevitable that I would choose this career path,”
said Lamar, a flight readiness technician inspector (FRTI) at Boeing South Carolina (BSC).
Her aviation career took flight in the Navy, where she spent four years active duty. At that time, she did
not work directly with aircraft, but as an aviation electronic technician, she troubleshot issues with
aircraft parts.
Lamar then joined Boeing in 1987 in the wire shop working with 747s, 767s, and the 777. A decade later,
she left Boeing to move to Miami to work in a repair facility. But, in 2008, she transitioned back to
working on commercial airplanes moving to South Carolina. She began working on the 787 program with
Global Aeronautica when Line 2 moved to 88-20 Cell 20, working in Systems and Electrical. Shortly after,
Lamar rejoined Boeing as a BSC teammate.
With Boeing’s support through the Learning Together Program, she earned a certificate in Avionics
Technology and an associate’s degree in Applied Science General Avionics Maintenance Technology.
“Boeing encourages all teammates to strive for increased knowledge and career choices, and provides
multiple ways to do so,” Lamar said. “When I heard Boeing South Carolina would be getting a Final
Assembly building and a Flight Line, I went back to school. I already had my Airframe Certificate, so I
needed to get my Powerplant Certificate. Once I had that, I was accepted to be a flight line inspector.”
Currently, Lamar works on the flight line with a team that inspects the airplanes to ensure they are
ready for test flights, and eventually, delivery to customers.
In 2020, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Lamar took part in the Women in Aviation Conference in
Orlando, joining 4,500 fellow colleagues across the industry for the networking and mentoring
symposium.
“A big take away from that conference for me was that I can be, and should be, an advocate for the
females like me who like working on and testing things,” Lamar said.
“Time has changed, and it is not so rare anymore for females, or males for that matter, to go into a non-
traditional career choice.