IN a discussion at VFR about women as commercial pilots, I wrote:

Let’s say you had a load of cargo that needed to be driven across country. Who would you prefer to do it, a man or a woman? I think most people, knowing the differences between male and female drivers and that men handle machinery and navigation much better than women, would answer that they would prefer a man. The vast majority of people, if they were honest with themselves, would probably say they prefer male pilots too, and for good reason.

It is well established that men have superior mechanical ability and spatial skills. Are these not still involved in flying a plane? Men also handle stress better and are less distracted by interpersonal concerns. Finally, a woman pilot is much more likely to have an exhausting work life if she has a family and that could affect her job performance.

I also responded to another reader’s point:

Rick Darby said he is not so much concerned about the possibility of a woman pilot as the likelihood that a woman pilot would be the beneficiary of affirmative action.

To add to his point, there could be no such thing as a society that accepted women as commercial pilots that did not in some way make them the beneficiaries of lower standards. 

Once airlines decide to devote costly and limited resources to training women to be commercial pilots, despite the huge disincentives and costs of doing so given that women always have a high drop out rate in any very demanding career, it has already lost its judgment regarding the qualifications of women for such jobs. So whether there are explicit affirmative actions policies or not, a society with women pilots has necessarily put aside, to some degree, safety and prudence for political concerns.

If I had a woman friend, however, whom I knew to be a competent pilot of private planes, I would not hesitate to fly with her any more than I would hesitate to fly with a male friend. Clearly, there are women who can master the skills of flying.

                                                      — Comments —

James P. writes:

You wrote,

There could be no such thing as a society that accepted women as commercial pilots that did not in someway make them the beneficiaries of lower standards.

This is of course also true of military pilots — there could be no such thing as a military service that accepted women as pilots (or indeed, in any capacity) that did not in some way make them the beneficiaries of lower standards.

You also wrote,

Once airlines decide to devote costly and limited resources to training women to be commercial pilots, despite the huge disincentives and costs of doing so given that women always have a high drop out rate in any very demanding career, it has already lost its judgment regarding the qualifications of women for such jobs.

I am fairly sure that airlines do not train pilots. Pilots either receive their training in the military or pay to attend commercial flying schools (an expensive proposition).

Laura writes:

Regardless of where pilots are trained to fly, someone is investing heavily in their training and that investment likely will not be returned at the same rate at which it would be with a man. And even when a pilot comes fully trained, airlines invest in vetting them and preparing them for their own specific procedures.

Laura continues:

I’d like to add one more point to the above, and it is the most important point of all.

 John P. writes:

Eric has raised an extremely important point. Airline pilots across the board are grossly underpaid relative to the level of their responsibility. This is yet another side effect of the Military Industrial Complex which mass produces pilots. In addition, pilots love to fly so they will work for peanuts so long as they get to fly. We’re lucky they exhibit a high level of professionalism regardless of their remuneration.

As far as woman pilots go, I find your argument not fully convincing. There are undoubtedly reasons why women should not be pilots, above all because home and family is the best realm for women’s talents but it is important to remember that women consistently score higher than men on conscientousness and diligence and are less likely to take foolish risks. It’s no secret that young men in particular have higher rates of car accidents than women. Superior mechanical and spatial reasoning is all very well but risk taking or avoidance has to be part of the equation as well.

Laura writes:

Career commercial pilots are screened for recklessness and immaturity. Not just anyone becomes a pilot. Nevertheless, qualities involved in risk-taking are needed in an emergency: fearlessness and an ability to act quickly. That risk-taking tendency is an advantage for men. Diligence and conscientiousness don’t matter much in emergencies.

Also, women do not outscore men on the sort of mechanical diligence involved in the operation of machinery. If so, then women would be better car mechanics and engineers. The truth is, men are more highly motivated than women to work with machinery. After all, airplanes were conceived, developed and built by men. Are you telling me women are better equipped to fly machines they never could have built? I’ve never met a single little girl who was fascinated with planes as machines. I have met quite a few little boys who were. Which brings us to yet another reason why women shouldn’t be pilots. Men are avid about flying. And the field is infused with a masculine esprit de corps. If that is destroyed, it should be of necessity, not simply for the gratification of a few.

Very young men, by the way, overwhelmingly account for the higher rates of car accidents.  

Here’s a relevant comment from Jeanette V. at VFR:

My husband is a retired master mechanic in the Air Force. He told me that the dirty little secret was that woman pilots were four times more likely to crash then men. Now this was 20 years ago. I see no reason why this might be different. He claims no one really knew what the reason was. He also said woman make very good co-pilots, better than men, because of their high tolerance for tedium and the ability to multitask. The problem with women as pilots is when something goes wrong women tend to think and men react. He said the worse crash he witnessed was when a woman flight instructor was teaching a woman pilot to land when something went wrong during landing. She hesitated then gave the wrong commands. Everyone died in that crash.He is strongly against woman fighter pilots, the planes aren’t designed for women. There is no way around the “indoor” plumbing. Not to mention she simply is not physically strong enough to withstand the G forces. She will pass out before a man.

Of course there is also the problem of intuitive fighting; women don’t seem to have it.

Regarding Jeanette’s point, once you open the field of commercial piloting to women, it’s impossible to stop at just making them co-pilots. That would be unacceptable.

 

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