The Less Talked About Challenges for Female Pilots

A roundtable discussion was held at the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS), on the 19 June 2024. This was a collaboration between the RAeS and the University of the West (UWE) of England, led by Professor Susan Durbin FRAeS, Stella Warren and Captain Marnie Munns FRAeS, ATS Human Factors, with the participation of several UK and European airlines. The roundtable was a further reflection on the findings of this global study on the gender inequality in the pilot and pilot trainer workforce and was run in partnership with the Society’s Flight Training Specialist Group.

The findings from this report were published in 2022 by the Royal Aeronautical Society with the main themes from the report being presented at the roundtable, including the lack of part-time working opportunities for female pilots at senior levels, a lack of transparency in the recruitment and selection process for pilots and pilot trainers and discussion over sexual harassment and bullying. The updated republished paper can be viewed here.

The session opened with a message from Sir Stephen Hillier, Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, who emphasised the importance of diversifying access to the aviation and aerospace industry and the creation of the right environment to enable this. The roundtable was an opportunity to open a dialogue with airlines and consider next steps in addressing the issues highlighted in the report.

RAeS Chief Executive, David Edwards FRAeS said:

“Whilst the UK aviation industry is slowly becoming more representative of the world around us, we still only see an average of 6% female pilots. Much work has been done to promote these careers to everyone, yet the figure remains far, far too low. There are successful examples in other countries around the world, who have increased the number of female pilots, though even the most successful still only represents 15% of the pilot workforce.

The paper that the Society and UWE delivered in 2022 was eye-opening and demonstrated the clear need to provide robust measures to remove challenges and barriers to any employee, regardless of their background, gender or ethnicity. We must support better opportunities for female pilots at senior levels to work part time, and to ensure transparency within the recruitment and selection process for pilots and pilot trainers to encourage women to join and remain in the industry. Sexual harassment and bullying across the industry is completely unacceptable, this roundtable was a great opportunity for airlines to understand the less talked about challenges for female pilots."