Female Airline Pilots

A recent trip has had me wondering, why is it that when traveling all the airline pilots we see are male? I must say I am not an avid traveler but have traveled a decent amount in my lifetime and to my recollection have yet to see one of the pilots that flew the plane I was in, be a female. Females have had more chances to get into what was known as male careers in recent years. Although we still face a lot of tribulations, we are doing our best to break the glass ceilings created by our ancestrial males to keep women as their inferiors.

Central Airlines was ahead of the game in 1934, when they hired the first female airline pilot. Unfortunately due to pressures and a rejection by the union she resigned less than a year later. About thirteen years later as she could not get a piloting job and was near destitute she commited suicide.

We have come a long way since then with an approximate of 4,000 women airline pilots worldwide, the majority reciding in the US. But with about 80, 000 pilots worldwide women make up a very small fraction. An even smaller fraction are airline captains, about 450 is the rough estimate according to ISA( International Society of Women Airline Pilots).It makes one wonder, is piloting just a career not many females are interested in or is it something else entirely. Have we not completely broken the glass ceiling that our ancestors that started the womens movements fought so hard to bring down and gain equality?

To all the women with dreams of flying, keep your eyes on the sky, let your heart soar and never let anyone tell you, you can't.

If you would like more information you can go here: http://www.iswap.org/index.html
It's the ISA website, they have some faqs, information on scholarships if you would like to try and become a female airline pilot and some good tips on how to do this also.

Fly on.