Any Gay pilots?
PPRuNe Handmaiden
We have gay pilots in our company. As ever when flying with someone new, the topic of conversation in cruise/dinner tend to be very general and safe until you know the other person. Then it's game on. 
I'm a female pilot and the guys don't talk about women (in that way) to me, so I think that the guys would act the same way when flying with a gay colleague. I have chatted to the gay guys, tonne of fun and none have said that they have encountered any issues. Whilst they are open about their sexuality, they are not "in your face" with it.
The key is to be professional and not be "precious". The same applies to female pilots.
I'm a female pilot and the guys don't talk about women (in that way) to me, so I think that the guys would act the same way when flying with a gay colleague. I have chatted to the gay guys, tonne of fun and none have said that they have encountered any issues. Whilst they are open about their sexuality, they are not "in your face" with it.
The key is to be professional and not be "precious". The same applies to female pilots.
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You would be hard pushed to find any profession in the UK which doesn't have people in it who are gay, given that about 1% of the population are gay (0.5% bi-sexual). From the sounds of things though, there may be a higher % of pilots than that!
There are very few people now who care about working with gay people. Even from a conservative Christian point of view, there is the concept of "love the person but don't condone what they do" - so they are happy to work with gay people (and you will find gay people in conservative churches), even if pushed there would be an awkward conversation to be had.
The worrying thing is why you even needed to ask this question?
There are very few people now who care about working with gay people. Even from a conservative Christian point of view, there is the concept of "love the person but don't condone what they do" - so they are happy to work with gay people (and you will find gay people in conservative churches), even if pushed there would be an awkward conversation to be had.
The worrying thing is why you even needed to ask this question?
Bottums Up
Originally Posted by John2006
Im a Avation student at the universtiy of leeds and some of my fellow students raised a point that a homosexual pilot flying with a straight captain may find it difficult to talk to each other, say when the captain starts talking about women, thus degrading parts of CRM. As a gay guy who hope to get a ppl, it worrys me slightly. What are other peoples thoughts, especially those in the industry?
Not all straight captains talk about women, and no doubt not all gay captains talk about men. There are many topics of conversation on the flight decks I've frequented. And as a captain, I've not found conversation stilted with any individual because of their sexual orientation, ever.
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Loads of gay pilots here at one of the biggest LoCos in the world, never heard of any issues. Not much time given for screaming queens but I don't think there is in any walk of life. All the gay guys I know just fit and do their jobs, same as anyone. They don't make any more of an issue about their sexuality then the straight people do.
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Spent over 40 years as a ground engineer with various companies in a variety of countries and I do not think anyone gave a damn about the subject - the important bit was how good at the job a person was not his preferences.
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Sorry, totally disagree with the comments about talking about girls in the flight deck.
The gay guys I have flown with have given me more of an insight into the female psyche than I ever could have hoped for. still totally clueless about the opposite sex though!!!
Seriously, I can only talk from a straight point of view, most pilots under 40 don't give a stuff and those older dinosaurs are largely realising that the old attitudes are no longer relevant or accepted and in an airline today.
In fact you probably find that bigots are more unacceptable to an airline nowadays.
Barriers have been broken down and gay pilots have shown incredible fortitude to demonstrate professionalism in the face of adversity. It would be a shame if their efforts have been in vain and you decide not to follow your chosen path, purely on who floats your boat. Besides nowadays, the airlines don't seem to care who flies their aircraft as long as they have the ability to pay for it.
A word of caution though, excessive campness may still result in an awkward environment and affect your personal demeanour during the interview process. Pilots are ultimately responsible for the safety of passengers in an emergency situation and part of the interview process includes an element of whether the person will be able to cope. A perma - tan and perfectly manicured nails, may influence the interviewers thinking.
Good luck
The gay guys I have flown with have given me more of an insight into the female psyche than I ever could have hoped for
. still totally clueless about the opposite sex though!!!Seriously, I can only talk from a straight point of view, most pilots under 40 don't give a stuff and those older dinosaurs are largely realising that the old attitudes are no longer relevant or accepted and in an airline today.
In fact you probably find that bigots are more unacceptable to an airline nowadays.
Barriers have been broken down and gay pilots have shown incredible fortitude to demonstrate professionalism in the face of adversity. It would be a shame if their efforts have been in vain and you decide not to follow your chosen path, purely on who floats your boat. Besides nowadays, the airlines don't seem to care who flies their aircraft as long as they have the ability to pay for it.
A word of caution though, excessive campness may still result in an awkward environment and affect your personal demeanour during the interview process. Pilots are ultimately responsible for the safety of passengers in an emergency situation and part of the interview process includes an element of whether the person will be able to cope. A perma - tan and perfectly manicured nails, may influence the interviewers thinking.
Good luck
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if you are worried about what you will talk about in flight, as in average small talk conversation, and not about things like: gee captain , number two is running, '' a little hot"...then you shouldn't be a pilot
we talk about all sorts of things in the cockpit...just like everyone else in the world
topics I've talked about (non aviation)...drumming. and I found another pilot who plays the drums and we are beboping along at FL350 doing paradiddles all along.
politics...it can get pretty profound...so be carefull...religion too.
talk about pretty girls...sure, AND IF YOU DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT PRETTY GIRLS, CHANGE THE SUBJECT TO:WE DON"T GET PAID ENOUGH!
ITS LIKE REAL LIFE...do you go up to strangers and say: HI, I'm gay?
that's doesn't work too well
Try: Gee, its a nice day...hope the weather holds out.
AND pay attention to the flying FIRST, not about GAy or straight or transgender
But , like anyone who is not a very, very close friend...straight or gay...don't tell me about your sex life unless it has come up before.
we talk about all sorts of things in the cockpit...just like everyone else in the world
topics I've talked about (non aviation)...drumming. and I found another pilot who plays the drums and we are beboping along at FL350 doing paradiddles all along.
politics...it can get pretty profound...so be carefull...religion too.
talk about pretty girls...sure, AND IF YOU DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT PRETTY GIRLS, CHANGE THE SUBJECT TO:WE DON"T GET PAID ENOUGH!
ITS LIKE REAL LIFE...do you go up to strangers and say: HI, I'm gay?
that's doesn't work too well
Try: Gee, its a nice day...hope the weather holds out.
AND pay attention to the flying FIRST, not about GAy or straight or transgender
But , like anyone who is not a very, very close friend...straight or gay...don't tell me about your sex life unless it has come up before.
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"Just in case if you ever sit there questioning the sexuality of the person next to you, just look at their habits. If they wipe over all the hand control surfaces with an alcohol wipe before flight, that should give you some ideal."
WTF???
WTF???
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WTF is right
I use alcohol wipes and offer them to the other...they always accept happily
oh, and I'm not gay...and my illnesses have been reduced due to using the wipes.
I use alcohol wipes and offer them to the other...they always accept happily
oh, and I'm not gay...and my illnesses have been reduced due to using the wipes.
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In fact you probably find that bigots are more unacceptable to an airline nowadays.
FPS. Why is it that anyone who believes that being homosexual is not in keeping with the way men should conduct their sexual activity is a bigot? I really don't give a fig about what individuals do, but because I do not understand why they do does not make me a bigot.
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We have several gay and lesbian pilots in our company, gay cabin crew and gay and lesbian employees in ops and management. Our male/female and minority group ratios in the pilot workforce seem to be above the average and we have several who were recruited with medical restrictions. All welcome here.
FPS. Why is it that anyone who believes that being homosexual is not in keeping with the way men should conduct their sexual activity is a bigot? I really don't give a fig about what individuals do, but because I do not understand why they do does not make me a bigot.
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Why is it that anyone who believes that being homosexual is not in keeping with the way men should conduct their sexual activity is a bigot?
I object to having an unelected head of state, believing that It would be far more sensible and democratic to elect someone of talent and competence, rather than giving the job to someone purely on the basis of who their parents were.
And they call me a republican. But why?
it's all a bit too tricky for me!
Last edited by Artie Fufkin; 6th Jun 2012 at 08:04.
Plastic PPRuNer
Depends what you mean by "openly gay"
I work in a large hospital with (I presume) a normal complement of gay people. We have a few screaming queens who can be very amusing (they are in effect making a second profession of their gayness), but most of our gay staff don't make a big thing out of it and one only learns of it after quite a while.
I judge people on whether they are kind, able and professional - if they are then they're in by me - their sexual orientation is not my concern and whether it's homo or hetero I see no reason for folk to wave it in my face.
Don't make a secret of it or stand up and loudly announce it - be yourself, do your job well and you'll find that most people (perhaps disappointingly) don't care that much.
Make a great performance out of being gay or straight and you'll just irritate people.
I work in a large hospital with (I presume) a normal complement of gay people. We have a few screaming queens who can be very amusing (they are in effect making a second profession of their gayness), but most of our gay staff don't make a big thing out of it and one only learns of it after quite a while.
I judge people on whether they are kind, able and professional - if they are then they're in by me - their sexual orientation is not my concern and whether it's homo or hetero I see no reason for folk to wave it in my face.
Don't make a secret of it or stand up and loudly announce it - be yourself, do your job well and you'll find that most people (perhaps disappointingly) don't care that much.
Make a great performance out of being gay or straight and you'll just irritate people.
