24 AUSTRALIAN AVIATION
T
here has been a growing
movement discussing the lack of
women in aviation. Personally, I
am an advocate for seeing such
an imbalance addressed as some of the
women that have flown the banner to
date have done aviation proud. What
I find interesting is the promotion of
targets of 50 per cent female intakes by
some predetermined date.
At what point did the powers-that-
be wake up and decide that recruiting
women is suddenly an agenda item?
Australian women have been doing us
proud long before the advent of KPIs
and marketing think-tanks. We are
familiar with the wonderful exploits
of Nancy-Bird Walton as a pioneer
aviatrix, but let’s not forget the amazing
Lores Bonney either. World War 2
saw women ferry everything that the
military had to offer, all around the
world.
But then things seemed to stall
a little. It would be years before
Australian women would earn the
right to occupy the flightdecks 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
1979 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 few.
What the industry is facing is a
need for significant change. However,
change requires change management
and not a lightbulb 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 changeits 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.
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 who 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 likely for the
majority.
Just as the “pilot shortage” didn’t
spring up overnight, nor did the
gender imbalance, so it is wishful
thinking to consider that either can be
resolved with the flick of a recruiting
department’s switch.
This form of change takes time and
when it interacts with society 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.
When a woman pilot achieves
a landmark the subsequent media
rush can be 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 Force recruiting
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 changethoroughly could 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 co-pilot and a captain
over many years, there is no doubting
that they can match it with the blokes
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 assertiveness. Aside from
thinking that these proponents have
never been married, one needs to pause
to consider how much assertiveness
and persistence 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 regardless of
background 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 and crew rostering are
challenges faced by all pilots, but that’s
part of the job.
Women on the flightdeck in
significant numbers has been a
neglected issue for decades. Change
is overdue, 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 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 flightcrew.‘A fishing
boat doesn’t
change
its catch
by simply
casting its
net over the
other side of
the boat.’
A growing aviation industry
means a growing need for
pilots, no matter their gender.
SETH JAWORSKIFifty-fifty
We need to address the grass roots to get more women onto the flightdeck
FLIGHT LEVELS
A PILOT’S VIEW