Originally Posted by
SkylaneRG
As a female, this is disappointing. The best candidates should be hired based on skills and qualifications, not a metric. It's going to make the whole lot of us (women, other minorities) seem less qualified because we were hired to meet a quota, not because we were best for a job. Eventually that will show and it'll hurt the reputation of those of us who were hired for the right reasons. I'm the only female at my current job (15 pilot part 91 gig) and I appreciate that I was hired for the quality of work I do and not to check a box. I'm sure my colleagues appreciate it, too.
This a step backwards, IMO.
Do you believe that men are inherently better pilots than women? I'm guessing (and would agree) the answer is no.
So why are there 10 male pilots at United for every 1 female? Because the pool of candidates to work at a major airline currently only allows for that.
The announcement by United isn't a quota to hire a certain number of female mainline pilots. It's a goal to have a certain percentage of female/minority candidates into their Aviate pipeline program by breaking down barriers to entry and partnering with non-traditional sources for recruiting.
Down the line this will eventually expand and improve the hiring pool for pilots at major airlines, where pilots will continue to be hired based on skills and qualifications.