First let me caption the random assortment of photos. First is a crew meal while in the jumpseat on a 757 from Newark to Los Angeles (THE JUMPSEAT...FROM NEWARK TO LA). It needed emphasis. Next we have assorted aerial shots of Monument Valley, Meteor Crater, an overly noisy shot of the sunset, and a screenshot from my flight simulator. This is a post with pictures that have nothing to do with the topic because I don't have any pictures addressing the topic at hand: female pilots, or as they should be called. . . pilots, ya sexist bastard. I have been with the airline for almost a year and a half and had not flown with a female captain until last week. The experience with this captain was like any other day of the week. We swapped stories of our nonrev adventures and shared our mandatory complaints about our schedules. But as she and I waited in Colorado Springs for our aircraft to arrive, another lady, perhaps in her mid 40s, approached us and commented on how nice it was to see a female pilot.
She then told us the story of her mom who was a pilot turned FAA examiner, but was turned away by the airlines decades earlier for the simple fact that she was a woman. It's a story that seems to be a general theme from that generation. The first female airline pilot was hired by Frontier in 1973. However, many of these "we don't hire women" stories continued on for years after that date. And if you look around the terminal these days, you would have to wait a while to see a woman in a pilot's uniform. It has gotten better, but fractionally so. Estimates vary, but the number of women in the United States with an ATP (an airline pilot certificate) numbers less than five percent.
That number is pretty staggering considering we live in a supposedly equal society (Spoiler alert: we don't). When that lady in Colorado Springs politely excused herself from the conversation, she looked at me and said, "Thanks for supporting women in aviation." I was literally speechless. I did not know how to respond because all I did was show up for work. It was the least amount of effort I could possibly do. I would like to do more, but I don't even know where to start. When I got home from the trip, I googled, "Why aren't there more female pilots?" and read numerous articles that really didn't have an answer.
There was an article in the USA Today that speculated it was because maternal instincts prevented women from pursuing a career that keeps them away from their family. I am calling pure shenanigans on that statement. One, it isn't based on fact, but when are facts important to Americans, right? I have far more time at home than I did when I had a 9-5 job. Granted it may not be on the weekends or holidays, but let's be honest -- I barely work, and when I do work, I spend the whole time complaining about how they're working us so hard. Yesterday, I flew for 45 minutes and was done. Last month I worked five days in a row and caught myself when I protested, "Five days in a row, who does this?!" Ok, so moot point USA Today, but maybe it's because people just make assumptions and don't do proper journalism. So, all I can conclude is that there aren't more women in aviation because society seems to think they are out of place there or see it as a novelty.
After parking at the gate back at LAX this evening, one of the flight attendants brought a young girl forward. The captain had already walked out to track down a wheelchair for one of the passengers, so I was in the flight deck alone when she shyly walked up. I said, "Have a seat, captain," and gave her a salute. Sidenote: I'm very awkward with children. She sat there for a while with her mouth open in awe and all I could think of saying was, "Lots of buttons, huh?" She just nodded without saying anything. When her parents eventually summoned her, she slowly slid out of the seat, grabbed her stuffed animal, and mustered a quiet, "Thank you" on her way out. One of the flight attendants poked her head in and whispered, "You don't know how much you just made that girl's day." I guess she was sad during the flight because she was too shy to go up to the flight deck while we were boarding earlier.
Now I don't know if this girl, who was maybe four, will grow up with an interest in aviation because of that moment. Realistically, she will want to be a frog next week, but I was kind of moved by the whole thing. It's a tragedy that in 2016, we are looking at 1 in 20 odds that either one of your pilots is a woman. I am determined to figure out why, so I'm channeling vintage Brian. Before I was flyin' Brian, I was filmin' Brian equipped with a camera and some editing software. I plan on making a documentary on this issue and seeing if I can learn anything. As someone who nerds out about airplanes, I cannot see why that young girl from tonight's flight would not consider pushing all those buttons some day.
