Posted on 04/26/2022 2:37:21 PM PDT by yesthatjallen
It’s been a half-century since airlines started hiring women and people of color to fly passenger planes, allowing a handful of pioneering pilots into the flight deck.
In the decades since, commercial aviation has grown exponentially, democratizing travel and rewiring how Americans live, work and play. But one part of the industry has remained mostly the same. Piloting is stubbornly monolithic: About 95 percent of airline pilots in the U.S. today are male. Nearly as many are white.
Zakiya Percy is one of a small and growing number of people trying to change that. Ms. Percy, 29, used to dream about flying, watching planes pass overhead when she was growing up in San Francisco.
“I told myself as a kid, you’re already a captain on a 777 flying international,” she said. “You just have to get there.”
Now, Ms. Percy, who is Black and a first-generation college graduate, expects to have her airline pilot’s license within a year, bringing her a step closer to that goal.
For many like Ms. Percy, piloting has long been or seemed out of reach. Few women and people of color aspire to fly planes because they rarely see themselves in today’s flight decks. The cost of training and the toll of discrimination can be discouraging, too. Now there’s urgency for the industry to act. Pilots are in short supply, and if airlines want to make the most of the thriving recovery from the pandemic, they will have to learn to foster lasting change.
SNIP
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Compared to the other drivers on the road. How do we know that you are a competent driver?
“Few women and people of color aspire to fly planes because they rarely see themselves in today’s flight decks. ”
Horse dung. Where do they get this crap?
Australian Survivor had a beefed up pilot as a contestant. He was able to smoke a puzzle that involved spatial reasoning. He would have won if he could have not got aced at out Final 4.
I have a lot of respect for pilots. Tough job. Of course there are idiots. Like the news that just came out about one smoking in the cockpit and it caused the plane to crash . I think it was Egypt
I hope I get a lesbian black female pilot that is wheelchair bound and has Downs Syndrome.
Diversity jackpot!
It will take many years before she sniffs a 777. Pilots work their way up starting with the smallest planes.
Yep. Not flying any longer. There is NO way to provide safety when superior ability knowledge and work ethics are superseded by preference of skin shades.
N=2 is statistically meaningless.
There will always be a greater range within a race than between races.
Chicks destroy unit cohesion.
Hahahahahahahahahaha
Love that movie!
Chicks? What.
Humans with vaginas.
Be whatever you are, JUST DON’T CRASH MY PLANE. Simple
“It will take many years before she sniffs a 777. Pilots work their way up starting with the smallest planes.”
Wait until they cry “chronological experience privilege.”
See how fast anyone who isn’t a white male moves up the ladder then.
… democratizing travel …
How ‘bout the best pilots. Period.
You all do know that we have a very experienced commercial pilot who happens to be female here in FR a lot...
Are the truck drivers selected on merit? Or just a pulse.
having been a pilot for over 30 years with my own plane, and my friend who was also my instrument instructor, just happens to be head of the FAA safety committee. The problems we have right now are numerous and serious and it is getting much worse, but until a few hundred people die, this crap will continue
I’m all for any person being all God designed him or her to be.
If they have the talent, desire, aptitude, knowledge, and work ethic to pursue their dream and they want to be a pilot…GREAT!!
We want the brightest and best.
But no place is it a good idea to push groups of people based on “I like them better” into areas of leadership or skill driven careers.
If she is a good, pilot, she is a good pilot. But she is not a good pilot based on being female. She will be a good pilot because of being willing g to undertake something difficult, pursue excellence and apply the knowledge. She will be a good pilot because she can demonstrate that - not because she fills out some paperwork with a preferred bubble to fill in.
I saw the handwriting on the wall for this a few years ago.
Can you imagine tower positions and FAA positions being. “Awarded” based on this nonsense? I’m worried about the safety of aviation in the future and not just from these perspectives, but security perspectives as well.
So true!
in the 2000's, I was working on a big mine project in Africa. Our company had a commercially classed twin turbo 30-passenger plane and we were trying to eliminate expats from the project so we hired a national away from his job as a pilot on the country-owned airline...the guy was flying 737's.
He could not qualify on the company twin turbo...so he went back to flying 737's.
At least our company felt safety and competence was a bigger priority than diversity.
Not so sure if that would be the outcome in today's stupidity.
No thanks, i’d like to stay alive.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.