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Numbers of female flight crew

 
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Old 28th Oct 2001, 07:36
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Question Numbers of female flight crew

Does anyone know where I could get some statistics on the numbers of female pilots, especially commercially employed. I need numbers from around the 1980's to last year, any set where a comparison can be made. Even if they only pertian to a specific carrier, they would be fine so long as a comparision between years can be made. FYI, in the States only 3% of commercial/ATPL pilots are female!
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Old 28th Oct 2001, 07:39
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Thank god!
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Old 28th Oct 2001, 08:25
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Bwahahahaha EPIRB...nice one.
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Old 29th Oct 2001, 12:09
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you can add one more to whatever you come up with because my sex change should be complete next week.......should have done it years ago.....i would have a 400 command by now.....GO THE HAIRY LOGBOOK!!!!!!!!!!
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Old 29th Oct 2001, 13:56
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You said it scumbag!!
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Old 29th Oct 2001, 15:07
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Wawa,
Hello. What do you need these statistics for? It shouldn't matter who's in the other seat as long as they do their job. Despite the comments from people above me on this thread no-one within the industry cares less whether a pilot is male or female (unless we're at a party of course!). As long as they're safe and professional it's not an issue to my colleagues.

I really don't like the idea of positive discrimination so I'm just curious as to your reason for asking for statistics.
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Old 29th Oct 2001, 16:21
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The question is primarily to identify whether the Australian Governments social regulations on sex discrimination back in the 1970's and 80's had had an impact on female employment in a male dominant proffession. In some ways Affirmative action policies required by law have had the effect of reverse discrimination against males. Any numbers would be helpful, especially if they involve tech crew.
Thanks again
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Old 29th Oct 2001, 17:05
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Paddington.I,m with you.If the hours are there the hard yards done,and in some companies seniority.so be it.who cares if it's the L/h or R/h seat.this discrimination subject can go to far sometimes.and yes I,m the bigger %.
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Old 29th Oct 2001, 23:40
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I've seen a few F/O's carry-on like prima donna's when they didn't get their way, does that count?

And more than the odd cabin crew.....
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Old 31st Oct 2001, 02:36
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I'm sorry WAWA, which newspaper/magazine/rag/tommorrows chip paper did you say you worked for?
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Old 31st Oct 2001, 06:46
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Give the guy the stats he needs, I'm guessing it's for a uni assignment, in which case it wont even make it as a chip wrapper! Do you really think a pilot could construct such an eloquently phrased and sophisticated question?
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Old 31st Oct 2001, 10:28
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Can't spell "pertain" though!
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Old 31st Oct 2001, 13:57
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Try the searching under the heading "Australian Woman Pilots Asociation"

Keep in mind there are lots of old retired captains and GA has-beens out there who have held onto their qualificatons so the official perrcentage may be lower than the actual percentage of women pilots sitting at the pointy end.
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Old 31st Oct 2001, 14:22
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September 2, 2001

Susan Spano:
Her World

Women in the Cockpit Inspire Others to Make Their Dreams Take Flight


When I board a plane and discover that there's a woman in the cockpit, I get a little jolt of joy. About 7% of the 66,000 members of the Air Line Pilots Assn. are women. Just seeing one at work reminds me that women who want careers in air travel can choose from a wide spectrum, from ticket agent to captain.

Until recently, most pilots in commercial aviation got their initial training and flight experience in the military, which partly explains why cockpits were virtual men's clubs for so long. Helen Richey, one of the first women to pilot a commercial scheduled passenger carrier, got a job flying with Central Airlines in 1934, but she had to give it up in 1935 because the all-male pilots union wouldn't let her join. Women started turning up in the cockpit in noticeable numbers about 20 years ago.

A pilot shortage in the '90s brought more women into the work force, says John Mazor, a spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Assn. (ALPA), which is based in Virginia. Still, some passengers haven't welcomed them. A decade ago, an Alaska Airlines jet had to return to the gate in Phoenix because a passenger refused to fly in a plane piloted by a woman. Christine Barlow of Los Angeles, a first officer with United for the past five years, says passengers often ask her to hang up their coats and fetch water when she doesn't wear her uniform hat. For the women who make it to the cockpit, piloting a plane offers a strikingly level playing field for advancement, based almost entirely on seniority. (Captains and first officers take turns piloting the plane and operating the flight management system; the major distinction between the two positions is that the captain is responsible for all decisions.) Men and women alike must work their way up from first officer on smaller aircraft. Once they make captain, they have to start all over in small planes before they can reach the top of the heap, the front left seat of a mega-jet carrying hundreds of passengers. ALPA's Mazor says that the promotion process can take three or four years when the industry is growing but as many as a dozen years in slow times. "It's not easy to become a pilot because the bar is high," Mazor says. "But if you clear it, the airlines don't care whether you're male or female."

Joy Walker, who in 1973 became Delta's first female pilot, agrees that promotion as a pilot has nothing to do with one's gender. "Men and women take the same tests and must reach the same levels of seniority," she says. Having cleared all the hurdles, Walker wears the four gold stripes of a captain and has an enviable schedule: She flies from Atlanta to Brussels every Saturday and returns on Monday, giving her the rest of the week off.

Though Walker experienced some resistance from male crews in the early days of her career, her ability was her ticket to equity. "When they found out I could do the job, there was a real turnaround," she says. "They were far more on my side than if I'd been a guy."

Betty Pfister of Aspen, Colo., who co-piloted nonscheduled flights between New York and Puerto Rico after World War II, says that even back then she was treated fairly as long as she did her job. She remembers that her male colleagues used to guard the door while she used the men's restroom because there were no women's crew facilities in some of the smaller airports.

Jennifer Muellner of Annapolis, Md., who is 26 and flies for US Airways, also thinks that capable female pilots get a fair shake. "Skill and ability transcend gender," she says. For her, the challenge of getting a job as a pilot for a major carrier had less to do with breaking down barriers than with chalking up enough flying hours to qualify for the required licenses. She had 3,400 hours of flying experience when she was hired as a co-pilot by US Airways two years ago, amassed by taking jobs with small freight and commuter airlines as far afield as Montana and Alaska. "I chased jobs that would get me to a major airline as fast as possible," Muellner says.

Many women pilots follow the same career path, learning to fly on their own and working for small carriers, eventually obtaining an Airline Transport Pilot Certificate, which allows them to fly for major passenger airlines. Others attend four-year colleges that have aeronautical science programs, like Embry-Riddle University, which has campuses in Prescott, Ariz., and Daytona Beach, Fla. Dave Esser, acting chairman of the aeronautical science department at Embry-Riddle in Florida, says that until the recent economic slowdown, major carriers like United and Delta assured him they could hire every graduate and still not meet their needs.

Still, women made up only 11% of Embry-Riddle's 2000 class in aeronautical science. The reason young women aren't flocking to the field may have to do with a pilot's travel schedule, which can make relationships and child-rearing difficult. On the other hand, Barlow of United just had her first baby and intends to return to work in October (after several weeks of refresher training required for pilots who have been away from the cockpit more than 90 days).

Her husband, Brad, a United pilot, will take care of the baby when she's working, if they can get their schedules to mesh. Barlow, who has seniority as a first officer, plans to delay working for a captain promotion because she would have to start over at the bottom of the seniority ladder, working weekends and being constantly on call. She's clear about her priorities, even if it means a slowdown in her career. "I'm starting a family now," she says.

Pfister, now an 80-year-old grandmother, got edged out of commercial piloting when the war was over and military pilots came home and started claiming the most attractive aviation jobs. She still wanted to travel, though, so from 1948 to 1952 she worked as a flight attendant for Pan Am, where she got lots of attention as the only stewardess around who could fly the plane in a pinch. Although she liked being a flight attendant, she says now, "If I were that age today, I'd be a pilot."
 
Old 1st Nov 2001, 03:49
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Guys, it was a fair enough question and
all the posts so far have rubbished it .
THAT shows how poorly women are treated
in aviation ,yes it's tough for women
and a sample of the attitudes so far shows
why .
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Old 1st Nov 2001, 05:11
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wawa,
if you want to know why there aren't more female tech crew flying, the above sad and pathetic comments will tell you.

Try Bureau of Stats or the ask the ATO to help by doing a search on professions listed on group certificates

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Old 1st Nov 2001, 05:51
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Thanks to those who given some useful info.
Yes it is for a uni assignment.
No it won't make any form of publication that I know of.
Yes I am a pilot.

I have quite a few stats from the US, but the question specifically asks for Australia.
I have tried the ABS, but the assignment isn't worth enough to fork out a couple of hundred dollars for the specific stats. The beest I have is "employed in air and space transport".

Once again thanks to those that helped.
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Old 1st Nov 2001, 12:31
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Tiler, you are almost right of course. The only error you made was assuming every post above was from a male pilot......
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Old 2nd Nov 2001, 04:10
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I'm all for Careers' advisers realising that flying is a potential career for girls these days. I also think it's important to remember what women in the past have had to put up with in their fight for suffrage & equality.

However that is in the past and to make an issue of 'statistics' seems to imply that there should be a certain percentage of men or women within a particular industry. Why should this be so? Positive discrimination merely leads to resentment from the sex/race/age, being discriminated against. As long as we all do the job that we're paid to do then.... WHO CARES what sex, race, age the other pilot is?!
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Old 2nd Nov 2001, 05:26
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Im with you Paddington!
So long as you dont break my balls for a few hours a day, I couldnt care what color you are, what you eat, who you worship, what you sleep with at night and what you do with your lonely time.
Lets just enjoy the view, not hurt anyone and get home!
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