The ultimate arbiter of whether this "affirmative action" is wise, is the frisson of unease an informed passenger may now feel when they hear on the PA that they have an all female flight crew, knowing their safety is in the hands of people who may have had an easier ride to get to the hot-seat, compared to male equivalents - which in the end is doing a huge disservice to the 99% of the minorities it is supposed to help.
However most pax are less than informed; "tell the captain there is fuel dripping from underneath the plane", views condensation, drip drip drip; "the engines are making a clanking sound" hears sound of fan turning in the wind. Travelling as pax I am more than informed and never feel a 'frisson of unease' when welcomed on board by a female voice. Everyone has heard the oafish quips directed at female pilots, not cool and played out years ago. Flown with plenty of females in both seats and can honestly say the majority were as good if not better than their downtrodden white male counterparts, respect. I find that the girls are far more determined to make a successful contribution to the profession than the (sometimes mostly) privileged little boys who's mummies and daddies have remortgaged their house for/given bundles of cash to after 3 years wasted at uni to go and fly big shiny jets. Even today little girls are made to feel that such a profession is not for them, its a boys job. So I fully welcome the 'positive discrimination' as some of you put it (even though it isn't)! More females should be encouraged to fly our aircraft, so what if companies want to promote that idea?