<p><em>Captain Nadhem AlHamad is the General Manager of Alpha Aviation Academy UAE, one of the Middle East’s leading pilot training providers and the second largest provider of the Multi-Crew Pilot Licence (MPL) in the world. </em></p>
<p><img alt="Captain Nadhem AlHamad" src="/getasset/c42b87e3-3874-4350-8426-605fbfbcf8af/" /></p>
<p>Here is a statistic that should shock you and yet probably won’t: only 5% of commercial pilots globally are female. Even more surprising is that this statistic holds true at a time when demand for global air travel is growing so rapidly that there is a global shortage of pilots. The 2019 Boeing Pilot & Technician Outlook predicted that 804,000 new civil aviation pilots will be needed in the next 20 years to meet the upcoming demand for air travel. If the demand for more pilots is to be met, 5% simply has to change.</p>
<p>To put Boeing’s figure of 804,000 in context, there are roughly 290,000 active pilots worldwide. Many of those pilots however are expected to retire in the next decade as they reach the required retirement age of 65. In the USA for example, almost 50% of the pilots flying today are close to retiring. It’s why many airlines, who have already grounded planes due to the pilot shortage and now Covid-19, are hoping a large intake of female pilots can be part of the industry’s recovery.</p>
<p>The challenges for the industry in understanding this problem should therefore focus on the current barriers to entry that need to be overcome. The same financial and time issues exist for everyone when it comes to launching a career as a pilot and embarking on the training. Yet, the data shows that women are simply not choosing the career in the first place. The interesting question therefore is, why not?</p>
<p>While the number of women pilots is growing, it has done so by less than 1 percentage point over the past 10 years. Many cultural and attitudinal barriers still exist across different countries and markets, where piloting is still deeply ingrained as a male profession. These attitudes are not just present in aviation, but also across the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), where participation amongst women has historically remained low. Culturally, boys are often encouraged to take an interest in machines from a young age, whereas girls are encouraged to pursue other interests such as reading. These deep-rooted stereotypes about what is right for each gender can impact educational choices and lead to a decline in women who choose STEM fields in higher education, choosing to advance in subjects in other areas.</p>
<p>One issue is that biases around the traditional roles on an aircraft have become so ingrained in society, partly due to the era in which the airline industry first experienced its growth, that affirmative action is now necessary to rewrite the narrative around which roles are appropriate for which gender. Studies have shown that implementing policies aimed at shifting cultural attitudes in the aviation industry are needed to change perspectives and to get results. The reality is men need to be educated on the impact of stereotypes and prejudices in the industry too, as well as the women who are at the stage of choosing a career path, for any sort of cultural evolution to be successful. Flight training is a large investment and many aviation students don’t complete the course. It is important that women do not encounter these cultural barriers during the very challenging training programmes and become deterred from finishing flight school because they think flying is not for them. </p>
<p>Because the truth is, it is. While gender pay gaps remain high amongst airline companies due to the disproportionate number of male pilots and female cabin crew, company wages are often negotiated by unions, which means women and men are always paid the same if they have the same role in the same airline. Misconceptions that exist about the suitability of women for the role can also be tackled. It is simply not the case that all pilots are forced onto long haul flight schedules where you can spend weeks away from the home, making the job incompatible with raising a family. Flying can be a flexible and a supportive career path, with many female pilots finding the time to pursue both their career and family aspirations. While most people consider flying to be a highly technical job, it is also about being good with people. As a captain, you are also a people manager, and perceptions around this aspect of the work need to be changed too.</p>
<p>In India, a positive case study is already emerging. Over 13% of pilots are now female, which is more than three times as many as a number of western countries. Young Indian women see a career in aviation as a rare opportunity to be both highly and fairly paid. The industry is growing so quickly domestically that it is also providing type of career progression that meets the sky-high ambitions of these young female pilots. Other airlines and countries must continue to focus on encouraging more women into aviation careers with affirmative action. To not only help flatten the gender imbalance, but to solve the global pilot shortage and ease its recovery from this time of crisis.</p>
<hr />
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<p><img alt="Captain Nadhem AlHamad" src="/getasset/c42b87e3-3874-4350-8426-605fbfbcf8af/" /></p>
<p>Here is a statistic that should shock you and yet probably won’t: only 5% of commercial pilots globally are female. Even more surprising is that this statistic holds true at a time when demand for global air travel is growing so rapidly that there is a global shortage of pilots. The 2019 Boeing Pilot & Technician Outlook predicted that 804,000 new civil aviation pilots will be needed in the next 20 years to meet the upcoming demand for air travel. If the demand for more pilots is to be met, 5% simply has to change.</p>
<p>To put Boeing’s figure of 804,000 in context, there are roughly 290,000 active pilots worldwide. Many of those pilots however are expected to retire in the next decade as they reach the required retirement age of 65. In the USA for example, almost 50% of the pilots flying today are close to retiring. It’s why many airlines, who have already grounded planes due to the pilot shortage and now Covid-19, are hoping a large intake of female pilots can be part of the industry’s recovery.</p>
<p>The challenges for the industry in understanding this problem should therefore focus on the current barriers to entry that need to be overcome. The same financial and time issues exist for everyone when it comes to launching a career as a pilot and embarking on the training. Yet, the data shows that women are simply not choosing the career in the first place. The interesting question therefore is, why not?</p>
<p>While the number of women pilots is growing, it has done so by less than 1 percentage point over the past 10 years. Many cultural and attitudinal barriers still exist across different countries and markets, where piloting is still deeply ingrained as a male profession. These attitudes are not just present in aviation, but also across the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), where participation amongst women has historically remained low. Culturally, boys are often encouraged to take an interest in machines from a young age, whereas girls are encouraged to pursue other interests such as reading. These deep-rooted stereotypes about what is right for each gender can impact educational choices and lead to a decline in women who choose STEM fields in higher education, choosing to advance in subjects in other areas.</p>
<p>One issue is that biases around the traditional roles on an aircraft have become so ingrained in society, partly due to the era in which the airline industry first experienced its growth, that affirmative action is now necessary to rewrite the narrative around which roles are appropriate for which gender. Studies have shown that implementing policies aimed at shifting cultural attitudes in the aviation industry are needed to change perspectives and to get results. The reality is men need to be educated on the impact of stereotypes and prejudices in the industry too, as well as the women who are at the stage of choosing a career path, for any sort of cultural evolution to be successful. Flight training is a large investment and many aviation students don’t complete the course. It is important that women do not encounter these cultural barriers during the very challenging training programmes and become deterred from finishing flight school because they think flying is not for them. </p>
<p>Because the truth is, it is. While gender pay gaps remain high amongst airline companies due to the disproportionate number of male pilots and female cabin crew, company wages are often negotiated by unions, which means women and men are always paid the same if they have the same role in the same airline. Misconceptions that exist about the suitability of women for the role can also be tackled. It is simply not the case that all pilots are forced onto long haul flight schedules where you can spend weeks away from the home, making the job incompatible with raising a family. Flying can be a flexible and a supportive career path, with many female pilots finding the time to pursue both their career and family aspirations. While most people consider flying to be a highly technical job, it is also about being good with people. As a captain, you are also a people manager, and perceptions around this aspect of the work need to be changed too.</p>
<p>In India, a positive case study is already emerging. Over 13% of pilots are now female, which is more than three times as many as a number of western countries. Young Indian women see a career in aviation as a rare opportunity to be both highly and fairly paid. The industry is growing so quickly domestically that it is also providing type of career progression that meets the sky-high ambitions of these young female pilots. Other airlines and countries must continue to focus on encouraging more women into aviation careers with affirmative action. To not only help flatten the gender imbalance, but to solve the global pilot shortage and ease its recovery from this time of crisis.</p>
<hr />
<p><a href="https://jobs.flightglobal.com/jobs/?utm_source=website&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=FJ_job_search"><img alt="Register with Flight Jobs" src="/getasset/a95f9bbd-4d54-40bd-91fb-e090dc9d5295/" /></a></p>