Fifty-fifty

It would be years before Australian women would earn the right to occupy the flight decks of the major airlines. Christine Davy MBE initially broke that glass ceiling with Conellan Airways, and was also the first woman to hold a First Class ATPL. Deb Lawrie won her hard fought case in the eighties and Sharelle Quinn would be the first female captain at QANTAS in 1992. It’s a long and proud history, but the numbers are still too thin on the ground.

What the industry is facing is a need for significant change. However, change requires change management and not a light bulb moment in a Press Release. Rather than a statement of a target, perhaps we should be asking questions. Why now? Why a percentage goal? Why has it taken so long? A fishing boat doesn’t change its catch by simply casting its net over the other side of the boat – it needs to move into different waters of a different depth. And that takes time.

‘A fishing boat doesn’t change its catch by simply casting its net over the other side of the boat.’

Regardless of gender, a recent school-leaver who reads about the “pilot shortage” might not be suitable, or able, to realign their career aspirations so quickly. Firstly, did they study the required subjects at school and secondly, do they have the means to pursue the career at such relatively short notice? For those that hold positions in airlines, the career choice of a pilot was made well before they sat their final year examinations. Not entirely, but it would seem like the majority. Just as the “pilot shortage” didn’t spring up overnight, nor did the gender imbalance, so it impractical to consider that either can be resolved with the flick of a recruiting department’s switch.

This form of change management takes time and when it address the community at large, it borders on generational change. This means that beyond the good work of advertisements and social media, we need to address the grass roots. So many young women don’t even realise that a career as an airline pilot is a genuine possibility. The media rush that can occur when a female pilot achieves a landmark is such that it may appear to project them as a superwoman. The effect of these headlines can sometimes be the reverse in that rather than encouraging young girls, they may actually see the career as beyond them. That’s why a solid, broad-based approach is needed.

We need to address the schools, first and foremost. Our pilots need to interact face-to-face with the next generation so that they can see for themselves that they are real people. The career guidance officers are traditionally ignorant of aviation, beyond a Defence Careers brochure. These people form a critical link, so they should also be educated. It should also not be forgotten that aviation is competing with a variety of careers that have already established themselves as gender-inclusive, hence a greater effort may be needed to win over the mindset.This all takes time.

Failure to address the change thoroughly could actually have negative ramifications. It may open the door for the bigoted minority to assert that it was ‘jobs for the girls’ on the basis of a quota, rather than recognising their true skills and merits. This is an attitude that so many women have worked hard over decades to quash, so it really doesn’t need to be given oxygen again.

Having flown with women as an instructor, a captain and a co-pilot over many years, there is no doubting that they can match it with the lads on all counts. In fact, there are certain instances where women, particularly in their younger years display a level of maturity and balance that occasionally chest-pumping males with too much testosterone should envy.

There are those who believe that women lack appropriate assertion. Aside from thinking that these proponents have never been married, one needs to pause to consider how much assertion is needed just to make one’s way up the career ladder in a profession where you are so vastly outnumbered.

An airline career has so much to offer applicants of all backgrounds and gender. Pay levels do not discriminate, nor does a seniority system that is based upon a date-of-joining. There are also options for carers that can aid in managing an airline career through life’s inevitable phases. Lifestyle balance, extended absences, crew rostering are challenges faced by all pilots, but that’s part of the job.

Women on the flight deck in significant numbers has been a neglected resource for decades. It is an overdue time for a change, but equally we need to manage that change. We need to let every little girl and boy know in equal measure that they can fly. Female pilots are wonderful role models for the next generation, but they should not be elevated on too high a pedestal – out of the common reach.

They should be at ground level, eye-to-eye with the female fliers of tomorrow.

And that’s exactly how most female pilots I know want to be seen. They don’t want to be perceived as an exclusive niche, or a minority group, they want to be regarded as a respected and valuable member of a flight crew.