FLYERS: WHY AREN'T THERE MORE WOMEN AIRLINE PILOTS

"It's a career I absolutely love. There's nothing
else I'd rather do for my job."
Helen McNamara is a senior first officer flying
the Boeing 767 for British Airways. She's been
flying for 14 years.
But despite it being nearly five decades since the
first woman became a commercial pilot, she's
still very much in a minority.
Globally only about 5% of pilots are women -
that's about 4,000 out of 130,000 pilots
worldwide.
British Airways employs 3,500 pilots, but only 200
are female - and that's more than any other UK
airline.
It would like to see more women apply for its
training scheme.
And while the number of female applicants
increases slightly with every intake, it's still low -
and nobody's really clear why.
'Man's job'
Helen says it was only as she grew older she
began to think of flying as a career.
"I didn't really know anyone who was a pilot, and
it wasn't something I saw as a potential option
for a career.
"It wasn't something I was discouraged to do,
but I wasn't actively encouraged."
The BA training scheme is open to people
between the ages of 18 and 45.
A recent poll for the airline showed women said
they were put off flying as a career because of a
lack of visible role models - and because they
were told it was a man's job.
In the poll, 20% of those questioned said when
growing up, men were pilots on TV and in films,
while 20% said they thought women could only
be cabin crew. And 13% of the respondents said
they had never been on a plane flown by a
woman.
Helen says she goes into schools and attends
recruitment fairs to talk to young women.
She studied physics at university, but says being
brilliant at science or maths is not a necessity for

1. the job. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

"On my training course there were people who
came from law, there were people who came
from architecture, so it's not just a pure science
background required," she says.
Much of a pilot's training is carried out in state-
of-the-art simulators. It takes 18 months to
qualify.
Captain Ian Pringle is one of the BA training
team. He says it truly is a non-gender specific
job.
"It doesn't matter if you're male or female," he
says.
"We are looking for the people with the aptitude,
passion and dedication for the role."
Of course, many women do work in the aviation
industry but the British Airline Pilots Association
(Balpa) is also keen to see more among its
number.
Jim McAuslan, the union's general secretary, says
it's "frustrating" that there are still comparatively
few.
He believes there is definitely a lack of female
role models.
Dynamic career
"Our experience is that people at recruitment fairs
are there because they've got a dream," he says.
"85% are there because they have always
dreamed of being a pilot. We want women to
have that dream as well.
"It is a career that is achievable for everyone. So
have the dream."
Helen says she would urge any woman to think
about becoming a pilot.
"The variety of people you work with, the varied
places you go to and the different challenges
each day make it such a dynamic career, I
couldn't recommend it highly enough," she says.
And she says she's never had a bad experience -
either with passengers or fellow crew.
"In the terminal when we meet passengers they
are always extremely positive, and onboard the
aeroplane I've always felt a welcome part of the
team," she says.
So although numbers are low, attitudes have
moved on from the 1960s, when the first female
commercial pilot - Yvonne Pope Sintes - began
work.
Yvonne says at the beginning of her career she
did face some negativity.
"Initially when I first started, one of the pilots
said he would resign if a woman joined, but
fortunately he didn't," she says.
"And I then I did find afterwards that the
experienced pilots were happy to accept me and
help me".
Yvonne agrees that women need to be enthused
by the idea of flying when they are young.
"You've got to have a real vocation for flying and
maybe young women don't realise what
possibilities there are nowadays. I hope that
many more will go into it as a job."
She also believes "having a dream" from a young
age is key. She says she "fell in love with flying"
when she was only eight years old.

Source: bbc