Originally Posted by
DALFA
The focus of a pilot is safety. Your feelings about being the only one that looks like you, shares cultural ideas, and listen to similar music are completely IRRELEVANT. This is the reason why quotas in regards to sex and race are inherently dangerous. The best candidate for the job should be hired regardless of their sex and race. That's the whole point.
If you have 10,000 white male applicants, 500 female applicants, and 500 black male applicants you're likely going to end up hiring similar percentages relative to the number of qualified applicants.
As others have said, females are more attracted to more "nurturing" careers. That's why a majority of teachers, nurses, and flight attendants are females. Nobody is out there creating quotas to have more straight male flight attendants is there?
This baloney all started with diversity programs and now we're going all out and creating quotas. This won't stop because now corporations all feel the need to one up each other. What happened to meritocracy? We're turning into Europe where a supermarket cashier earns the same as an electrician all in the name of fairness.
Preschool & kindergarten teachers = 97% women
Speech language pathologists = 96% women
Dieticians = 93% women
Hairstylists & Cosmetologists = 92% women
Your feelings about who you think United may hire in AVIATE are also IRRELEVANT. What's the difference In those occupations vs. airline pilot regarding pay, prestige etc.... I don't expect you to agree as I've had this conversation countless times at work (never initiated by me unless someone asks my opinion) and I know generally how a large number of airline pilots feel about me sitting next to them and or their perception of my qualifications. I've heard it when people didn't know I was in the room, I've heard it when I was in the room. If one of your colleagues (me) is trying to enlighten you a little bit about life as a minority in this country and this business, it takes very little effort to just listen and consider some of what I am saying. I certainly do the same for you and the 95% of other pilots I listen to spouting off contentious sound bites about their perception of race, mainstream media, radical left, etc.... Thanks for the candor all good night.
I used to also think pilots should be in charge of hiring pilots. As I've grown and learned (cuz let's face it, if you're not growing, you're dying) I'm glad HR types are doing the hiring (Hogan test excluded). If it were up to a guys with attitudes like yours, I would never be sitting where I am.
Good luck, lets all try to do better and have a little empathy.
Peace