Females in aviation Activism
In this article, we will be talking about sexism in the commercial airline industry and sexual harassment throughout history and in the present.
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![THE FLIGHT OF FEMALES
Females in Aviation Activism
A Little Bit of an Intro
There are many career fields around the globe that are male-dominated. The most known occupations are in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields, with only 27% being women, according to the United States Census Bureau.
As a University of North Florida student majoring in a STEM field, I mostly hear computer science being the major with the least diversity. However, there is one career that has been close to my heart since I was a child, where no one seems to discuss the harassment and lack of women. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reports that less than 10% of American licensed pilots are women, and as of 2020, only 5.7% (see graph) are female. 692 female pilots out of 26,854, are commercial pilots, which is the category I will be focusing on for the most part in this article.
History of Women in Aviation
The Civil Rights Act of 1964, opened the gates for women to start making their way into traditionally masculine jobs. Industries were now unable to discriminate against sex and race when promoting, hiring, and firing. Airlines were encouraged to begin the process of hiring more women onto their crew, as there were women previously, but only a small number. Remember, airlines could hire women, they just chose not to.
One of the airlines that started this process was United Airlines. With a comment of the airline being ‘“happy with its progress”’ you would think they would have hired numerous female pilots. However, they ended a 20-year period (1964-1984) with just 13 female pilots.
Airlines put on a facade to the public of being accepting of women after their years of a carefully constructed patriarchal industry.
Women came out and expressed their disagreement with these statements. Many women spoke about having to go to court with airlines to become a pilot and for sex discrimination in the 1990s.
One woman reported that she had been given an extremely difficult training simulation to get her license, which caused her body to lock up due to anxiety. It was objectively much harder than the one that was given to the males. Another reported sexist language during a training simulator, directed at her. She complained but was met with ‘“if you want to play in a man’s world, you will have to get used to a man’s talk.”’
(picture)
Female pilot, Jerrie Mock in the cockpit of a plane in 1964.
Sex Discrimination
A study was done by psychologists Caroline Davey and Marilyn Davidson in May of 2000 where they interviewed 23 female and 17 male commercial airline pilots in a European airline.
Women experienced discrimination because of their sex mostly with men they had not flown with before. A female pilot at a new airline was not allowed to land a plane until she had shown her competence, even though she had done it many times before at her previous airline. She mentioned her female coworker having to prove herself 30 times before she was allowed to handle the aircraft herself.
They also reported men attempting to intimidate them by yelling and not allowing them to touch the aircraft. One man told her to hold her input and not criticize his actions. This is extremely dangerous as communication between a pilot flying (Captain) and a pilot monitoring (First Officer) is essential. A commercial plane is a very complicated aircraft and someone pressing a button could trigger many downfalls.
(picture)
Five people in a line facing the camera. Two women on the left skirts, a man in the middle pants, and two more women on the right in skirts. The women are experiencing sex discrimination as they are not allowed to wear anything but dresses and skirts, no pants.
Sexual Harassment
Two women had experienced male crew going through their belongings and planting things in there. One was a condom in her purse and the other was a pornographic magazine.
(quote) “‘They think it’s funny… To them, you’re fair game.”’
Women made complaints, however, nothing really changed. A woman reported being sexually harassed with sexist jokes, but this did nothing but discourage more women from reporting men, as, by example, they saw that nothing was done.
Many women were excluded from conversations by men making nasty sexist jokes along with being racist.
(quote) “‘They would refer to women as ‘it’ and ‘bimbo.’”
Interview
A female First Officer (FO), who wishes to remain anonymous, has agreed to an interview with me. She now works for a private airline in Southwest Florida, however, she has flown for commercial airlines for most of her career. She has experienced much discrimination and sexual harassment in her time, from back-handed compliments, male pilots refusing to fly with her, and men touching her body without permission, such as her knees and thighs. I asked her to explain to me her experiences however she wished, in a relaxed interview.
(quote) “It was a flight out of Tampa [Florida] to Raleigh [North Carolina]. The [male] Captain decided that it was okay to put his hand on my knee and then subtly slid it up to my thigh. I put a stop to it real fast and he didn’t do it again. Luckily the flight engineer was a woman too. She gave me to courage to report him although nothing much was done.”
(quote) “There was another [male pilot] who refused to fly with me and had a tantrum. Saying I was going to ‘crash the plane’. He stayed outside of the cockpit and crossed his arms like a five-year-old and I just didn’t put up with it. I just said ‘fine, suit yourself.’ I’d had enough.”
(quote)“There was one man once who told me I was a very good pilot because I was good at multitasking. I was happy because I’d been getting a string of rude ones [male pilots]. Then he tacked on that I was good at multitasking because I was a woman. My mood immediately changed. I don’t understand why they have to add that in. Just say I’m a good pilot and be done with it.”
Activism
The First Officer I interviewed (above), inspired me to discuss and research this topic. I have heard her talk about her experiences before however, I never hear about the sexism going on in aviation. This topic did not seem to have a lot of peer-reviewed journals nor does it get mass media coverage.
For example, on October 31, 2022, a female pilot from Qantas, an Australian airline, is suing the airline for alleged sexism and sexual harassment. Also, in 2019, former fighter pilot and Arizona State Senator Martha McSally, came out with her experience of being raped by a Superior Officer in the Airforce. However, I had not heard about this, and nor did anyone I had asked about the topic.
I ask everyone reading this to spread the word about sexism in the aviation industry. Post about it on social media, make existing posts more popular and mention it in discussions about male-dominated industries. Do whatever you can to make it more known. The main goal is to reach as many people as possible, and possibly target legislation as the next goal.
We also need airlines to take reports and complaints more seriously. There needs to be stricter regulations and legislation passed that is more focused on the aviation industry rather than just overall such as Title VII. We need to force airlines to investigate complaints further or investigate at all and administer harsher punishments that will change the ways of some male pilots such as unpaid leave and a class that will reform their thinking.
What I have found in my interview with a female pilot in the present industry and interviews of females in the past, punishment and investigation have not improved, but have stayed the same. In both scenarios, nothing had been done with the allegations.
Hopefully, if this was achieved, it can destigmatize the hesitancy to report male pilots that women have seen as nothing being done for women.
This needs to be more known. Not just for the safety and mental well-being of women, but also for the souls aboard whose lives are in the hands of these pilots. We need clear communication and respect in the cockpit and amongst all of the flight crew to have a safe environment.
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THE FLIGHT OF FEMALES
Females in Aviation Activism
A Little Bit of an Intro
There are many career fields around the globe that are male-dominated. The most known occupations are in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields, with only 27% being women, according to the United States Census Bureau.
As a University of North Florida student majoring in a STEM field, I mostly hear computer science being the major with the least diversity. However, there is one career that has been close to my heart since I was a child, where no one seems to discuss the harassment and lack of women. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reports that less than 10% of American licensed pilots are women, and as of 2020, only 5.7% (see graph) are female. 692 female pilots out of 26,854, are commercial pilots, which is the category I will be focusing on for the most part in this article.
History of Women in Aviation
The Civil Rights Act of 1964, opened the gates for women to start making their way into traditionally masculine jobs. Industries were now unable to discriminate against sex and race when promoting, hiring, and firing. Airlines were encouraged to begin the process of hiring more women onto their crew, as there were women previously, but only a small number. Remember, airlines could hire women, they just chose not to.
One of the airlines that started this process was United Airlines. With a comment of the airline being ‘“happy with its progress”’ you would think they would have hired numerous female pilots. However, they ended a 20-year period (1964-1984) with just 13 female pilots.
Airlines put on a facade to the public of being accepting of women after their years of a carefully constructed patriarchal industry.
Women came out and expressed their disagreement with these statements. Many women spoke about having to go to court with airlines to become a pilot and for sex discrimination in the 1990s.
One woman reported that she had been given an extremely difficult training simulation to get her license, which caused her body to lock up due to anxiety. It was objectively much harder than the one that was given to the males. Another reported sexist language during a training simulator, directed at her. She complained but was met with ‘“if you want to play in a man’s world, you will have to get used to a man’s talk.”’
(picture)
Female pilot, Jerrie Mock in the cockpit of a plane in 1964.
Sex Discrimination
A study was done by psychologists Caroline Davey and Marilyn Davidson in May of 2000 where they interviewed 23 female and 17 male commercial airline pilots in a European airline.
Women experienced discrimination because of their sex mostly with men they had not flown with before. A female pilot at a new airline was not allowed to land a plane until she had shown her competence, even though she had done it many times before at her previous airline. She mentioned her female coworker having to prove herself 30 times before she was allowed to handle the aircraft herself.
They also reported men attempting to intimidate them by yelling and not allowing them to touch the aircraft. One man told her to hold her input and not criticize his actions. This is extremely dangerous as communication between a pilot flying (Captain) and a pilot monitoring (First Officer) is essential. A commercial plane is a very complicated aircraft and someone pressing a button could trigger many downfalls.
(picture)
Five people in a line facing the camera. Two women on the left skirts, a man in the middle pants, and two more women on the right in skirts. The women are experiencing sex discrimination as they are not allowed to wear anything but dresses and skirts, no pants.
Sexual Harassment
Two women had experienced male crew going through their belongings and planting things in there. One was a condom in her purse and the other was a pornographic magazine.
(quote) “‘They think it’s funny… To them, you’re fair game.”’
Women made complaints, however, nothing really changed. A woman reported being sexually harassed with sexist jokes, but this did nothing but discourage more women from reporting men, as, by example, they saw that nothing was done.
Many women were excluded from conversations by men making nasty sexist jokes along with being racist.
(quote) “‘They would refer to women as ‘it’ and ‘bimbo.’”
Interview
A female First Officer (FO), who wishes to remain anonymous, has agreed to an interview with me. She now works for a private airline in Southwest Florida, however, she has flown for commercial airlines for most of her career. She has experienced much discrimination and sexual harassment in her time, from back-handed compliments, male pilots refusing to fly with her, and men touching her body without permission, such as her knees and thighs. I asked her to explain to me her experiences however she wished, in a relaxed interview.
(quote) “It was a flight out of Tampa [Florida] to Raleigh [North Carolina]. The [male] Captain decided that it was okay to put his hand on my knee and then subtly slid it up to my thigh. I put a stop to it real fast and he didn’t do it again. Luckily the flight engineer was a woman too. She gave me to courage to report him although nothing much was done.”
(quote) “There was another [male pilot] who refused to fly with me and had a tantrum. Saying I was going to ‘crash the plane’. He stayed outside of the cockpit and crossed his arms like a five-year-old and I just didn’t put up with it. I just said ‘fine, suit yourself.’ I’d had enough.”
(quote)“There was one man once who told me I was a very good pilot because I was good at multitasking. I was happy because I’d been getting a string of rude ones [male pilots]. Then he tacked on that I was good at multitasking because I was a woman. My mood immediately changed. I don’t understand why they have to add that in. Just say I’m a good pilot and be done with it.”
Activism
The First Officer I interviewed (above), inspired me to discuss and research this topic. I have heard her talk about her experiences before however, I never hear about the sexism going on in aviation. This topic did not seem to have a lot of peer-reviewed journals nor does it get mass media coverage.
For example, on October 31, 2022, a female pilot from Qantas, an Australian airline, is suing the airline for alleged sexism and sexual harassment. Also, in 2019, former fighter pilot and Arizona State Senator Martha McSally, came out with her experience of being raped by a Superior Officer in the Airforce. However, I had not heard about this, and nor did anyone I had asked about the topic.
I ask everyone reading this to spread the word about sexism in the aviation industry. Post about it on social media, make existing posts more popular and mention it in discussions about male-dominated industries. Do whatever you can to make it more known. The main goal is to reach as many people as possible, and possibly target legislation as the next goal.
We also need airlines to take reports and complaints more seriously. There needs to be stricter regulations and legislation passed that is more focused on the aviation industry rather than just overall such as Title VII. We need to force airlines to investigate complaints further or investigate at all and administer harsher punishments that will change the ways of some male pilots such as unpaid leave and a class that will reform their thinking.
What I have found in my interview with a female pilot in the present industry and interviews of females in the past, punishment and investigation have not improved, but have stayed the same. In both scenarios, nothing had been done with the allegations.
Hopefully, if this was achieved, it can destigmatize the hesitancy to report male pilots that women have seen as nothing being done for women.
This needs to be more known. Not just for the safety and mental well-being of women, but also for the souls aboard whose lives are in the hands of these pilots. We need clear communication and respect in the cockpit and amongst all of the flight crew to have a safe environment.
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About me
Hello! Thank you for visiting my site!
I’m a University of North Florida student. I am majoring in Biomedical Sciences, however, I am strongly interested in the Aviation industry due to being exposed to it throughout my life. I wanted to call attention to the sexism in the field as I find that it is not popular in the Media.
Fighting for What We Believe In. Together.
Links (sources)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epdf/10.1177/0959353500010002002
https://www.proquest.com/docview/213196343?accountid=14690&pq-origsite=primo&forcedol=true
https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=EAIM&u=jack91990&id=GALE%7CA153362841&v=2.1&it=r
https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/acr/outreach/fwp
https://www.dol.gov/agencies/oasam/civil-rights-center/statutes/civil-rights-act-of-1964
https://www.faa.gov/data_research/aviation_data_statistics/civil_airmen_statistics
https://www.vecteezy.com/free-vector/twitter-logo
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Instagram_logo_2016.svg
https://apps.microsoft.com/store/detail/tiktok/9NH2GPH4JZS4
https://www.vecteezy.com/free-vector/snapchat-logo
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Facebook_logo_%28square%29.png
https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2014/04/12/historic-flight-recounted/7640861/
https://www.diggitmagazine.com/articles/stereotypes-sexism-aviation
December 9, 2022 at 11:47 pm
I had no idea that sexism was such a prevelant issue in the aviation industry! This was very eye opening and my heart goes out to the women who still experience this treatment to this day.
December 11, 2022 at 12:56 pm
I knew that there were much less female pilots than male pilots, but this article was incredibly eye-opening. I learned so much! Phenomenal job!
December 11, 2022 at 1:03 pm
Sorry this was my reply not sure why it posted as anonymous.