Why aren't more women airline pilots?

Autothrust Blue said:
:yeahthat:

It's getting better - more and more equal - and it's a very good thing. If you're qualified to do the job, capable, and competent, and want to fly, then nothing else really matters. Computer Science syndrome is curable.

This is your political theorist conscience speaking: There are very few circumstances in which speech should be criminalized. Don't open that can of worms.
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Exactly my point: This industry is slow to pick up any societal trend because a generational turnover has to occur first. We're going to see more and more women in flightdecks everywhere as the previous generation retires. The fact that the general population thinks that this is somehow a product of discrimination only proves that they don't fully appreciate the dynamics of flight crew seniority.

Tld said:
blah blah blah....this discussion still exists?.....

(and two guys hanging out together for hours in a locked room called a cockpit? seems kinda ghey to me....just sayin ;) )
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We have a female pilot here who once suggested that it would be better to call it a 'box office'. True story. ;) I suppose unless one is overly attached to references about one's physical gender characteristics it's a moot point.
 
Firebird2XC said:
The fact that the general population thinks that this is somehow a product of discrimination only proves that they don't fully appreciate the dynamics of flight crew seniority.
.
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Which is the point Ive been making all along to you. Its going to take time for the amount of women who are in currently, as well as entering the airlines, to move up the seniority to where its more and more common to see a woman Capt; in order for the public's perception to change.
 
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Originally Posted by MQAAord
It's 2011. I would have hoped by now that people would understand that a penis is not a requirement to be a pilot.
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It sure doesn't hurt. Every man knows how long it takes a woman to pee!

Ms. Captain hurry up, it only a two hour flight!
 
Ian J said:
People's perceptions of female pilots relate to their sex while their perceptions of male pilots relate to them being pilots.

A story from the other week: a commander in a neighboring state bragged to me he could put up an all female black hawk crew. Later, another guy I was with admitted an all female crew was a bad idea. He said female pilots are either great pilots or terrible pilots and they were rarely average. This guy was a senior pilot with 20 years experience and he rarely saw average female pilots? Or over the years did his low expectations make him perceive average female pilots as exceptional?

I thought about my own unit that has no female pilots, but I do have some awful male pilots. No one relates their poor performance to their sex. No one says "man, he is one terrible male pilot!" or even better would be "he's pretty good for a male pilot."
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Do you think that the military environment contributes to this?
I'm often forced to wonder if the range of tolerance is different between the military and the civilian world- for either gender. We had two male pilots that specifically come to mind that *never* made PC (Captain, for you civilian types). They were borderline dangerous at the controls and absolutely unable to make a command decision. If our PC had been shot, I'd have been better off pulling his body over the center console, taking his seat, and flying the 'Hawk myself. Why were they still there? The only thing that made flying on their crews tolerable is that they were intentionally never paired with a weak PC. We always got the best in command of the ship to balance them out. Regular FAA exposure seems like it might shake out the serious non-hackers in the civilian world.

The female military aviators I worked with tended to trend similar- but there were a lot fewer of them, and I think that maybe people were afraid to wash out the bad ones for fear of being seen as discriminatory. I think it also makes the bell curve seem a lot more extreme. The sample size caused a few female aviators that were horribly bad to make the rest of population sample seem that much better by comparison. Granted, I think that's typical of the Army's mentality as a whole.

Are there quotas in the pilot selection boards? Honestly? I think a lot of people believe there are- and that affects the way they perceive the issue.
 
MikeD said:
Which is the point Ive been making all along to you. Its going to take time for the amount of women who are in currently, as well as entering the airlines, to move up the seniority to where its more and more common to see a woman Capt; in order for the public's perception to change.
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Which is the point I've been making. Why are we debating the point then? My whole issue was that the public's opinion shouldn't even matter in this issue- they're ignorant, as usual.
 
fholbert said:
It sure doesn't hurt. Every man knows how long it takes a woman to pee!

Ms. Captain hurry up, it only a two hour flight!
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:laff:


Curious. It takes men longer than women to poop, but takes women longer than men to pee.... The things that make you go "Hmmmm"
 
fholbert said:
Keep me off that airline!
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Don't know, sounds pretty fun to me.

"Yeah, we've got the traffic in sight - we'll maintain visual separation." Followed by a climbing left barrel roll.

Firebird2XC said:
The fact that the general population thinks that this is somehow a product of discrimination only proves that they don't fully appreciate the dynamics of flight crew seniority.
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Or the general dynamics of what makes an airplane fly, and why launching into the face of a thunderstorm in an effort to get to Grandmother's house on time will result in them not reaching Grandmother's house.

The seniority situation is arguably a result of historical discrimination, but that point is already well made by MikeD, and there is no logical reason to continue this senten--
 
Bandit_Driver said:
Recently I read a story about a guy causing a disturbance on a plane because the pilot was a female. He caused such a problem he had to be removed from the flight.

http://news.travel.aol.com/2011/02/25/man-delays-flight-over-fear-of-female-pilot/

Seriously.....some people....

The military did some studies not long ago that proves Women can pull more G's than men in fighters.
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Brains are closer to their hearts... Says it all right there... Thats a good thing too!! I more ways than one
 
"Schilmoeller's goal was to fly for a major airline, but when she had enough experience to apply for a job at a legacy carrier in 2003, there weren't any openings. So she went to work as a pilot for FedEx instead."

Oh boo hoo. That sentence makes it sound like a bad thing. lmfao.
 
I think one thing that may be keeping women from flying is the attitude of some men. Some men like to joke around and make jokes that some women may not tolerate. I don't take it seriously as I know they mean it as a joke, but some get offended. Even during flight training some flight instructors make comments that may make some female students uncomfortable enough to stop training. I know of a few instructors like that. I've even seen some men that refused to fly with any women. (Though I doubt they would get very far in a career with that attitude.) You would think we were past that, but it does still exist to some extent.
 
amjon said:
... Some men like to joke around and make jokes that some women may not tolerate. I don't take it seriously as I know they mean it as a joke, but some get offended. Even during flight training some flight instructors make comments that may make some female students uncomfortable enough to stop training....
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I think that men who do this show such immaturity. They think that it is just the uncool women that may be repelled by this, but I think that you have to know your audience. I have known very cool women who do not subscribe to these sorts of degrading comments, or "jokes".
 
Bumblebee said:
I think that men who do this show such immaturity. They think that it is just the uncool women that may be repelled by this, but I think that you have to know your audience. I have known very cool women who do not subscribe to these sorts of degrading comments, or "jokes".
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We don't even know what kind of humor might be considered "degrading comments" to those who choose to be offended... I'm sure some people are sensitive enough to be offended by a joke as harmless as "a horse walks into a bar..."
 
cencal83406 said:
We don't even know what kind of humor might be considered "degrading comments" to those who choose to be offended... I'm sure some people are sensitive enough to be offended by a joke as harmless as "a horse walks into a bar..."
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Oh come on...classic male response. I know the difference, if you don't maybe you are the reason the rest of us need to go to "sensitivity" training.
I guess if you can't tell the difference, you shouldn't be making jokes, then.
 
cencal83406 said:
We don't even know what kind of humor might be considered "degrading comments" to those who choose to be offended... I'm sure some people are sensitive enough to be offended by a joke as harmless as "a horse walks into a bar..."
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Bumblebee said:
Oh come on...classic male response. I know the difference, if you don't maybe you are the reason the rest of us need to go to "sensitivity" training.
I guess if you can't tell the difference, you shouldn't be making jokes, then.
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Well I believe has somewhat of a valid point. I have some work buddies that say things that some of my friends would think to be borderline racist, but I think is hilarious. I know people who would consider you racist no matter what you say. They just assume that all people that doesn't look like them are racist. It really all depends of the person.

I know some women who appreciate chivalry (the open doors, walk curbside, pay for meals when out on a date, and etc...) in men while others look at chivalry as being a tool.
 
Bumblebee said:
Oh come on...classic male response. I know the difference, if you don't maybe you are the reason the rest of us need to go to "sensitivity" training.
I guess if you can't tell the difference, you shouldn't be making jokes, then.
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Instead of skirting around the issue (classic liberal response ;)), why not hit it head on. I know the answer. If the joke has appeared on any American comedy show, of any sort, it's inappropriate. That's not just jokes about women either... take for example "Larry the Cable Guy" and his incessant use of jokes involving the word retard.

Let me add this tidbit...

this isn't even a joke that offended flight attendants:

"Flight attendants say they also have a problem with being repeatedly referred to as "the team " - not flight attendants or cabin crew members - in the video. "We feel it's demeaning to be called "the team", one said."

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ne...gers-flight-crew/story-e6freuy9-1226024591019

in regards to a safety video hosted by John Travolta...

so really, anything can be offensive to anyone...
 
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