Bingo.

The bottom line is that EVERYTHING that has been posted on this thread about women can equally be attributed to men. That includes:

1. Ability
2. Confidence
3. Family life
4. Attitude
5. Unfair hiring practices

The women I fly with do just fine. So do the men. Some individuals make mistakes (including me), but those mistakes cannot be genearlized and said to be indicitive of the entire gender that they belong to. The tendancy for people to do this --men and women -- is probably the biggest obstacle that a new female entrant to the airline industry will have to struggle with.


New K Now

I've flown with a few women over the past few years and honestly I think some of them flew better than most men I've flown with. Pressure to perform better might actually be a good thing for a female. After all, having to put up with some teasing here and there could be a good motivator. Just shut the guys up real quick when you land softer than they can :)

There's All Kinds
 

Having worked in various industries over several score years I have come to the conclusion that "you never can tell." I have hired women who stated from day one either:

1. They were only going to work a few years and then quit to have kids.
2. They were never going have kids, they wanted a career.

Guess what - they all changed their minds! Some never the kids they thought they wanted, and some had the kids they never wanted. As a manager I pay attention to neither the crystal ball nor the Magic 8 ball.

Do what you want to do when you want to do it. Take care of the future when it gets here. If your boss expects you to predict the future, ask him how come he isn't filthy rich from playing the stock market with that keen vision of "things to come."

As for dealing with chauvinistic pigs like me, an occasional "up yours" (or stronger) slaps us back to earth.

Funniest thing I ever saw: a passenger on a flight that was crewed by two female pilots got very nervous and wanted to know "if there were any men in the cockpit". The captain, smooth as silk, said "Oh sir, we don't call it the cockpit anymore. It's now called the box office." and walked away.

Some of the responses to this thread have me rolling on the floor laughing. You can really tell the male from female posts!! Also, it seems that most posts come from folks relatively new to the industry.

As a female pilot, I have never had any advantage due to my gender. I had to be just as qualified as anyone else. I never got a job before any of my male friends. And I CERTAINLY didn't get any turbine time before 1000 TT! I sucked it up and instructed for 4 years. Then I got the golden opportunity to fly checks. In a Cherokee 6. And after I did that for a while I got to fly the Seneca, and then maybe, just maybe, get some Navajo time. Then some charter flying, etc. I flew professionally for 5 years before I ever even got a regional airline interview. And although I've applied to every single US major airline, I've never gotten called for an interview. I have never failed a checkride or had any certificate action. I have much more total time and experience than most of my peers.

My point is this: I am just like any other average pilot. Female pilots are much more common, and we do not, in general, get the advantages that people think we do! We work just as hard, if not harder (due to our own preconceived notions) as our male counterparts.

I feel it is irresponsible to mislead the new kids coming on here looking for information. The OP needs to know that being a professional pilot will be fun, but not glamorous. If you don't LOVE to fly, you will hate it. I fly with plenty of younger pilots who thought the career would be something that it will simply never be. You most likely will not get rich, you'll miss valuable time with your family that you will never get back, you'll carry much more responsibility than you will get credit for, and it's also likely your health will suffer over time.

Of course, all that being said, why work at a real job when you can get paid to fly? Please, for all future pilots, do not ever agree to work for free, no matter how tempting it may be.

For somebody who posts infrequently, I've rambled far too long. Flame away!

For someone who claims to ramble, you rambled well.

Nicely put.

Learguy

In the college environment, the female students were very well accepted. One of my favorite instructors was female. I also flew with a female capt on a C421 who could outfly anyone I knew at the time(hell, she even had me beat, but it was only my 2nd flight in the C421:) ).

It's all mix and match, in the end there are 1000+ ways to get to the same end job/career, and in flying who knows what'll be.

PilotPip, I'm sorry one of my fellow graduates from "That school in Indiana" let you down. I'd like to think most of us coming from that program are fairly level headed, but there's always an exception to the rule.

Agreed but sometimes a soft landing is not a better landing.;)

Good post sounds like you paid your dues. When you sent out your apps did you check the F box. It's worth at least check airman status c'mon who are we kidding. I know individuals first hand who apparently were given preferential consideration here is one example; I knew 2 gals who did not even have an app on file at F9 and they got the call. They were as dumbfounded as the rest of us. One of e'm said go affirmative action. :)And for the record I'm not saying they weren't as or more qualified.

If you want to be a female pilot you need to have, or be able to develop the following:You will also need to study hard, work hard and do everything you can to be the best pilot you can be. In my opinion all pilots need these traits, so my point is simply be a good pilot and the rest will fall in place. Don't worry about being a female pilot. Work hard and be a good pilot, you will do fine.

As others have said there are good pilots and bad pilots. Some from each category happen to be men, some happen to be women. It's up to you to work to be in the good category and please realize the distinction is not completely dependant on stick and rudder. Good CRM, good systems knowledge, ability to think and act clearly in an emergency and just being able to BS over a beer all go into being a good pilot along with stick and rudder.

I would like to comment on some observations due to previous postings. Yes you will be minority. As long as you have all the traits above, so what. Interestingly women are less of a minority right now in the military than the airlines. I just seperated the AF, where my best estimate would say 10% of pilots were female. The major I now fly for has approximately 1% female pilots. Huge difference that even I did not expect. Part of that is the generational experience and will continue to change.

In many ways the seniority system at the majors ensures you will not be discriminated against for being a woman. It virtually eliminates the good ole boy system because upgrades, basing, trips, everything is decided by seniority. Much less ambiguous than most careers you could go into.

Also, on the children point. Absolutely Not All women want kids. It's okay not to, or to be not sure, especially at 20. The point is make your own decision and don't be pressured into a societal expectation if it is not what you want. If you do want kids, the challenges will be unique if you are a pilot, but so will the benefits. Once you are back at work, yes trips and traveling will be difficult, but you will have options at your disposal. Bid short trips, day trips, bid reserve to get more time at home etc. Depending on what type of flying job you get, you may end up with more time at home than with a typical 40 hour work week. Many pilots work 12-16 days a month (all away from home of course) but translates to more time at home than a typical job where you work 22 days a month. Depending on your specific situation this may be easier for you to juggle than a 40 hour work week.
With respect to maternity leave and returning to work, again the seniority system prevents the good ole boy system from impacting your career negatively. When you go back to work you will have your same seniority and aircraft category/position/base as when you left. In most of corporate america this would be hard to ensure. Step out of a law firm or Fortune 500 company for six months and try to return without losing any position, accounts or career competiviteness. Tough at best. My point is the seniority system has many benefits that ensure equality and equal career growth for women.