Should Women pilot Jumbos? ( Archived) (158)

Carey Smith Steacy, a Canadian airline pilot with 17 years of experience, apparently received a blunt and critical letter from a distraught passenger recently. But the issue was not the pilot’s flying style, penchant for finding mid-air turbulence or poor bedside manner.


The issue at hand was the pilot’s ovaries, and the fact that she was not at home doting on children. Where, apparently, she is supposed to be.
"The cockpit of an airliner is no place for a woman,” reads a letter written on a napkin left aboard a Calgary flight to Victoria, B.C., obtained by Metro News. "A woman being a mother is the most honor. Not as 'captain.' Were (sic) short on mothers, not pilots WestJet."

The letter further contained reference to a biblical verse and concludes, “In the end, this is all mere vanity.”
The author further said he wished WestJet would warn their passengers when a "fair lady" was at the helm so they would have the chance to book another flight.

The fear, of course, is that the pilot will go into spontaneous labor, putting the passengers in immeasurable danger.
[Katie Hopkins: Women are delusional on the weighing scales]

The letter is a shame, not worth the soiled napkin it was written on. But Steacy's response is worth celebrating.
According to Metro, she posted the following Facebook post (no longer publicly accessible):

To @David in 12E on my flight #463 from Calgary to Victoria today. It was my pleasure flying you safely to your destination. Thank you for the note you discreetly left me on your seat. You made sure to ask the flight attendants before we left if I had enough hours to be the Captain so safety is important to you, too. I have heard many comments from people throughout my 17 year career as a pilot. Most of them positive. Your note is, without a doubt, the funniest. It was a joke, right? RIGHT?? I thought, not. You were more than welcome to deplane when you heard I was a “fair lady.” You have that right. Funny, we all, us humans, have the same rights in this great free country of ours. Now, back to my most important role, being a mother.

While only about four per cent of airline pilots are women, the idea that they are "less than" is ridiculous in this day and age.
In fact, the comment is so deafening in its Mad Men-era absurdity that questions of its authenticity are sure to be raised. Such events have been contrived in the past to attain "viral fame."


Westjet has confirmed, however, that they were told of the incident and that they have many female pilots and first officers in their fleet.
“We’re enormously proud of the professionalism, skills, experience and expertise of our pilots, and we were very disappointed to find this note,” a spokesman told Yahoo Canada News in an email.
Apparently, they are not concerned about the dangers of female pilots launching into spontaneous labour. Won't somebody please think of the children?

Yahoo Canada news.

Footnote: My own personal opinion is that women should fly if suitably qualified. My question why don't more fly as Airline Captains??

Same reasons I guess there aren't many female Truck Drivers etc. The genders, generally speaking, have different aptitudes.

Historically, they've been raised to believe that, definitely.

But I don't think so, in my experience the neurological coordination is just as good in women, there must be other factors?????

From Proverbs 31, The Words of King Lemuel’s Mother:

13 She seeks wool and flax

They do some very nice fabrics down City Road in Cardiff, but I do miss David Morgan's haberdashery department. They had the best range of speciality zips, too. :sighs:

14 She is like the merchant ships,
She brings her food from afar.

It's true, the big Tesco is two villages away, but I enjoy the walk.

And so it's accurate.

Don't you fly

Do most women shy away from the responsibility of top notch jobs, traditionally done by men, preferring to sink back into the comfort of a home and family (with loving husband) rather than join in the rough and tumble of a male orientated world. (Just asking)