Well, yes.

Are there lapses, loopholes and gaps? Yes. Is any operator above that, above error? One standard, no exceptions, no excuses. Been like this since Jenny boys humped mail sacks. Ultimately ticket buyers and freight forwarders retain power of choice. Choose wisely then fuggetaboutit.

In my…op ed opinion.

Lead on this track was victim of pilot error, Pt. 121 non-skedder. If you take the time to absorb a bare bones but most excellent NTSB report, in typewriter script, it’s a still relevant (hole in a Swiss cheese lining-up) investigation summary. When the video was shot, he had three months to live. Age 29. https://youtu.be/aQqioJKjzPs?si=5c9RfkNB6-Qq2Auh

 

I don't think DEI was even a term in 1999 and 2000.....


Certainly airlines did not advertise they WILL hire a certain percentage of pilots based on what they look like....

 

Airlines hire to regulatory standards. Airmen, and only airmen, approved by the regulator set that bar. Blame no one but your peers if those standards are upheld unsatisfactorily.

 

It was much less complex, and labeled as/eeoc

Not really. But the manager of pilot selection at UAL in the mid 90’s into 2000 era stated many times that by a certain year, she wanted half the pilots in United cockpits to be women.

 

One merely has to look at the pictures of the new-hire classes at United for the last 5 or 6 years to see that it's still an overwhelmingly white male dominated place. Statements by any company or HR person are calculated to "sell" something - in this case DEI is the sale-du-jour.

But it never happened at any real scale at United - certainly not half. United does (I believe) have the highest % of women pilots and I've flown with scores of them over the years. Hold on to your hats - it's like 7% of the pilots at U are women. And U leads the U.S. with that too - LUV had like 4%...

Over the 30 years that I flew at United, I've flew with all the alledged "DEI Hires" and I will tell you they are/were ALL good pilots that put up with a ration of schidt white guys didn't.

I can't tell you how many times someone would poke their heads into the cockpit to ask something - the gate agent, purser, passenger, mechanic, etc. and they'd address me - the junior white guy F/O in the right seat and not the black, asian, female, etc. Captain. It's deeply baked into the American phyche to just ASSume the white guy is in charge. (Our current "situation" is a good example of reverse DEI...)

So did I want to have dinner and a beer with them, some yes, some no... just like the white guys I've flown with. The % is the same whether white, black, male, female, gay, straight, etc. Same % are really great to fly with - super proficient, and people you enjoy a burger and beer and conversation with on a trip. Same % are competent pilots who you will slam-click. Same % are at best average - safe, but not raising the bar for a professional pilot. I never flew with anyone who I wouldn't put my family on their plane.

Anyone who's flown for any length of time knows, everyone has a lull in their career, God know's I did. Maybe it's a few days, a trip, or even several months while they deal with some personal problem(s). Illness at home, divorce, death in the family, etc. If you haven't had that in your own life yet, get ready for it because it happens to all of us eventually. And maybe, just maybe you extend some grace to that "DEI" pilot you're paired with who may be having one of those issues in addition to putting up with the racism and misogyny that exists. Turns out it's just as easy to assume the best about someone versus the worst...

[MOD EDIT]

 

That was a long diatribe/plethora of key strokes to beat a horse that’s well past dead.

 

Ok, I’ll bite.

Bias & racism aren’t the same thing. Minority, gender prejudice in recruitment/training/qual was unquestionably common until affirmative action rulings of the 80’s made such air carrier practice a serious business liability. Was DEI really necessary given progress in flight officer equal opportunity hiring? I’m not out there since a while now. You all tell me.

 

In before the "AlL mY nEw HiRe ClAsS pHoToS lOoK lIkE wHiTe MaLeS"


Edit: lol, too late. Statement means nothing unless you have the demographic breakdown of all the qualified applications.

 

And I'll bite back.

We ALL know that, I'm not disputing ANY of that. The 80's was 40+ years ago, and guess what? Progress has been made. That rationale lasted till maybe the late 90's/early 2000's. By that era, the whole "we just never thought that was an option for us" blah blah blah simply isn't valid anymore.

One side wants to CONSTANTLY cling onto the past injustices and NOT acknowledge that progress has ACTUALLY happened. I'm with Morgan Freeman on this one.

One side STILL wants to scream "we don't have enough diversity in our cockpits!!!!!!!. Agreed, so get to work on that on the INPUT level. Which, certain organizations have been doing for decades now.

Anecdotal;

I went to an aviation college, but NOT one of the more well known ones by ANY MEANS. Orientation day, and the Dean of the department comes in and says "look left, look right, statistically, only ONE of you will end up an airline pilot when this is all said and done"

A certain moderator always, ALWAYS makes the point during these discussions. Now, it's STILL and input issue. If you were to go into an elementary class room, and assume the gender (if you believe in gender) is close to 50/50. If the question is asked "how many of you would like to be a pilot?" If one thinks that on ANY given day it would anything close to a 50/50 split is nothing but an idealist.....

To parrot a certain pundit, "when trying to solve a problem, we often go way to far.

^^^^^^^THIS, and any corporation would NEVER release that info.

To add on to a statement ALSO made by the UAL manager of pilot selection;

"Our average new hire white male has X amount of flight time, Y amount of PIC time, and Z amount of type ratings. For a minority or a female, it's HALF THAT".

 

Yep, 40 years. Long time. You do come off a little chip on shoulderish, fwiw. I like anecdotes. Even though they’re out of fashion now too of course. I don’t like tats. Pierced lips or eyebrows. Neon hair. 10” nails. Rap. Oh well. I did wear very long hair. Leaving Hillbilly high, 50 years ago, there were exactly zero interracial sweethearts. Zero other than straight males. Long hair, oh yeah. Miller, whiskey & weed, aplenty. Weren’t all bad tbh. Gone with the wind. So it goes.
https://youtu.be/hg_Nw20GG0E?si=-GsfuBc-wUxuagW5