THE percentage of female pilots is increasing, but gender equality within the professions is still very low compared to other professions, reports the CAPA agency (Centre for Aviation).
Women pilots in the world represent only 4-6% of all airline pilots working for the airlines. However, their numbers have increased over the past two decades. In the United States, it increased by 71% between 2002 and 2022, compared to an increase of 15% for all airline pilots. The share of female airline pilots in the United States has increased from 3.3% in 2002 to 4.9% in 2022.
According to the International Society of Women Airline Pilots (ISWAP), women represented 5.8% of airline pilots in 2021, up from 5.2% in 2018. Air India has the highest percentage of female pilots in the 2021 ISWAP survey, at 12.7%. Next come Aer Lingus, with 9.9%, Hawaiian Airlines, with 9.3%, and United Airlines, with 7.7%. Lufthansa, Alaska Airlines, Air Canada, UPS, Qantas and British Airways were also above the overall average of 5.8% (Air France, which is not mentioned in the ISWAP list, independently indicates 9% of women among its pilots).
At the bottom of the scale were Qatar Airways (2.4%), Emirates Airline (2.2%), Aeroflot Russian Airlines (2.2%), Japan Airlines (1.3%) and Singapore Airlines (0. 4%). By network and fleet size, regional airlines (6.4%) employ more women than low-cost (6.1%) and international airlines (5%).
“Compared to other professions in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), gender equality still has a very long way to go in the field of airline pilots.“, stresses CAPA. According to UNESCO, 44% of doctors, 33% of astronauts, 29% of scientists and 21% of engineers are women.
