LAX_Airport
New Member
Hey Folks:
I am new to, 'The Industry' and I believe half of what I hear and read....but, 'This just isn't cool if it's true!' This is a portion of the article below...For the complete article go to: http://www.avweb.com/news/columns/185019-1.html
Source: Avweb.com
By Rick Durden
Columnist
Aviation's Ugly Secret
Racial, religious and sexual discrimination is very much alive and well in aviation. It is a white, male-dominated world, with its fair share of bigots who think that airplanes somehow won't fly unless white, heterosexual, protestant males are in the crew seats. They are convinced that the airplane knows the color of the pilot's skin because, by gawd, the Wright brothers were white and only white men are good enough to fly airplanes. The data regarding women having lower accident rates than men is lost on them. Women still get accused of sleeping their way into employment positions; they still get propositioned by married, male pilots, who proceed to turn in negative reports on their piloting skills when the proposition is turned down.
I recently received yet another report of a female co-pilot in a three-crew airplane who had the male flight engineer reach around from behind and fondle her breasts. She complained, and the captain and flight engineer both denied it happened. She was told to take a checkride on short notice, after a very unpleasant interview with the chief pilot in which he impugned her integrity but did not question that of either of the other two pilots. Amazingly, the captain who had been on the flight was placed in charge of the checkride. To no one's surprise, she failed it, and the airline was able to get rid of someone who 'wasn't on the team.'
A charter operator recently told its one female pilot that she had to go to a beauty salon for a 'makeover' and start wearing makeup, and until she did, she was grounded. She had been flying there for some time without any complaints. She was not a person who ever wore makeup and she was aware of the warnings about the danger of burns when wearing lipstick in the presence of 100% oxygen.
If you are not a white male, don't be so naïve to think that discrimination is a relic of the bad old days. Be prepared for it and decide ahead of time what you are going to do when it occurs. Know your rights and talk with your peers to get a feel for what you will be willing to tolerate, how you are going to react, where you are going to draw the line and how you are going to document it and fight it. If you are a white male, resolve not to tolerate displays of discrimination in any form, and to work to fight it.
See the complete article at:
http://www.avweb.com/news/columns/185019-1.html
I am new to, 'The Industry' and I believe half of what I hear and read....but, 'This just isn't cool if it's true!' This is a portion of the article below...For the complete article go to: http://www.avweb.com/news/columns/185019-1.html
Source: Avweb.com
By Rick Durden
Columnist
Aviation's Ugly Secret
Racial, religious and sexual discrimination is very much alive and well in aviation. It is a white, male-dominated world, with its fair share of bigots who think that airplanes somehow won't fly unless white, heterosexual, protestant males are in the crew seats. They are convinced that the airplane knows the color of the pilot's skin because, by gawd, the Wright brothers were white and only white men are good enough to fly airplanes. The data regarding women having lower accident rates than men is lost on them. Women still get accused of sleeping their way into employment positions; they still get propositioned by married, male pilots, who proceed to turn in negative reports on their piloting skills when the proposition is turned down.
I recently received yet another report of a female co-pilot in a three-crew airplane who had the male flight engineer reach around from behind and fondle her breasts. She complained, and the captain and flight engineer both denied it happened. She was told to take a checkride on short notice, after a very unpleasant interview with the chief pilot in which he impugned her integrity but did not question that of either of the other two pilots. Amazingly, the captain who had been on the flight was placed in charge of the checkride. To no one's surprise, she failed it, and the airline was able to get rid of someone who 'wasn't on the team.'
A charter operator recently told its one female pilot that she had to go to a beauty salon for a 'makeover' and start wearing makeup, and until she did, she was grounded. She had been flying there for some time without any complaints. She was not a person who ever wore makeup and she was aware of the warnings about the danger of burns when wearing lipstick in the presence of 100% oxygen.
If you are not a white male, don't be so naïve to think that discrimination is a relic of the bad old days. Be prepared for it and decide ahead of time what you are going to do when it occurs. Know your rights and talk with your peers to get a feel for what you will be willing to tolerate, how you are going to react, where you are going to draw the line and how you are going to document it and fight it. If you are a white male, resolve not to tolerate displays of discrimination in any form, and to work to fight it.
See the complete article at:
http://www.avweb.com/news/columns/185019-1.html
