Race factor in the airlines

I should mention, that Jesus could also appear red, black, brown, white, yellow or any shade in between to chatise the racists of all sorts...
 
Look at my name!!!!!!!!

Sometime in either July or August the Captain(female AfricanAmerican) and myself(Soul Brotha #1) did a 4 day trip. We got some looks as we walked through some terminals but overall no one cares. If we didn't have the skills necessary to be up front, we would be out on the street just as the next Caucasian/Latino/Arab/Asian/whoever male or female.
 
Don't worry about it -sex and race do not matter!

<O:p</O:p
On February 12th 2009, DL5202 and DL5106 (a jet owned by Atlantic Southeast Airlines) was operated by an all female, all African-American crew!

Just makes sense that this happened at an Atlanta-based airline as Atlanta is the home of the most affluent african-american population in the US.

Also just in, the first F.O. to fly ASA's new 900 was black.:D

Oh and brotha, about being black making it more difficult...

It wont.

Forget about it.

Trust me...(Part 2)
 
At my former airline, rhymes with "USscare!", I flew several trips on the F-28 with a captain (notice the "small" 'c') who was a total racist. He assumed that since my skin was "pink" I shared his views...

On my third trip with him I knew what was coming so I had clipped a picture of a black woman and put it in my wallet. Of course he started in on the "N-word" tirade, so after a bit I asked him if he wanted to see a picture of my wife...

I wish I had a camera to take picture of his face!

Needless to say, I never heard another racial tirade out of him.

I know it sounds like an "urban legend," but I really did it!

He was later killed in the F-28 crash involving icing at LGA...



Kevin

Thank You...Thank You...Thank You...

Growing up in the South part of Memphis, I've seen a lot of racism and you've just answered one of my wishes.
 
Kevin,

When I was an F/O I had one of these guys. Everything out of his darn mouth was racist or sexist. Put him on my no-fly list immediately after our 1st trip.

Then there's the ones with the "attitude."

We have an extremely attractive black F/A. She's been dating one of our pilots for a long time. I had an F/O comment on her once. I said, "she's dating one of our pilots." He says, "I didn't know we had any black pilots in XXX."

I just looked at him and said, "We don't."

He was pretty quiet the rest of the day.
 
My new hire training partner at Southernjets was an African American women. While her outward appearance may have gotten her the initital job interview, her personality and more importantly, her flying skills are what got her the job. To this day we are still friends and communicate regularly. The only problem with her is that she graduated from Zoomie U and was a tanker toad. I guess we all can't attain the title of Marine!
 
Will you eventually run across some racist prick in this industry? Yes.

Just like the rest of the population there are a number of idiots in aviation. However, they are the exception rather than the rule.

You may come across some but don't let that deter you from doing what you want to do. I have hard stories from others of how they were treated by the airlines back then, but they either fought back with the courts and won, or went on to another company. OBAP is a wonderful organization and I have met some of its members who live in the Chicago area and they are great pilots. You can talk to them when you get in contact with the organization and they can answer some questions and give advice too.
 
OBAP's a great organization. I know quite a few JCer's who are also OBAP members.;)
 
In my estimation, if you run in to any sort of bad attitude, it will likely be from people who imagine that you got the job because of your skin color. As to that, nothing you can do or say to change their minds, just let it roll off you. I'm at best ambivalent about engineering "representative samples", particularly based on something as scientifically incorrect as the notion of "race", but as others have said, while a minority applicant might catch a few breaks here and there, they wouldn't be there if they weren't totally qualified. Most "white" people (at least the ones who aren't consciously racist) understand that and don't conflate their opinions about affirmative action with their opinions of their fellow pilots. Basically, don't sweat it. Of all the jobs I've had, flying seems most to be inhabited by good people who don't walk around with chips on their shoulders and want to get along. MHO, YMMV, etc etc.

Good luck.
 
From what I have seen at the airlines, all things being equal, being a minority will help when it comes for interview time etc. No doubt you're still expected to perform at the same level as everyone else, but in terms of getting your application noticed, it can only help.

Was it United that got sued years ago for their hiring practices?
 
Hey I am new to this game; but if you meet the mins and get invited to an interview the single most important qualification you can have is this:

Can a reasonable person stand to sit next to you for hours on end throughout a pairing...


Be a good bubba, professional, and not lazy and the rest will take care of itself.

Bear
 
Hey I am new to this game; but if you meet the mins and get invited to an interview the single most important qualification you can have is this:

Can a reasonable person stand to sit next to you for hours on end throughout a pairing...


Be a good bubba, professional, and not lazy and the rest will take care of itself.

Bear

im fairly competent and reasonable person to get along with.
and as for OBAP, i have been reading up on them.
 
im fairly competent and reasonable person to get along with.
and as for OBAP, i have been reading up on them.

Its never to early to get involved in OBAP. If I recall you are a junior. Are you close enough to one of the areas where there will be an ACE camp this spring/summer?
 
You could fly for NWA (Nashawn Wade Airlines) if you really think race matters.

image.axd
 
In my short career of a 121 "commuting" pilot, I have bump into a lady who works at HR of southernjet international. To quote her words, like staplegun said

"We are active in seeking of minority."

On the side note, from my previous career, the school system got "combine" together in 1993. :rolleyes:
 
Hello,
I don't think you have anything to worry about. Airline pilots are pretty fair individuals, and look at someone's ability to do the job. I think you will find them very welcoming, helpful and supportive. Have you looked into http://www.obap.org/ ? They have a great program of scholarships (for ALL deserving candidates regardless of race, color or creed).
I am former military, and some of the best officers that I work with and flew with as an aircrewman were black. However, we didn't see ourselves that way. We viewed one another with mutual respect for going out and putting our A**ES on the line together as professionals and serving our country. That is the definition of real brotherhood.
 
Its never to early to get involved in OBAP. If I recall you are a junior. Are you close enough to one of the areas where there will be an ACE camp this spring/summer?

lol. not a junior. graduated high school last year.
 
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