![]() ![]() Baker, a former pilot and flight instructor for Hinson.īaker was among those who introduced Burns to other pilots who could help her obtain valuable flying time in an era when many wouldn't give women the opportunity. "I remember she drove up in a Mercedes something or other and said she wanted to learn how to fly," said Warren W. Though other women had learned to fly at Hinson, Burns stood out. When she told her Western High School counselor she wanted to work in the travel industry, she was advised to consider becoming a flight attendant.Īfter the incident at LaGuardia inspired her to make a career change, Burns signed up for flying lessons at Hinson Airways, a flight school and charter service that formerly operated out of Baltimore-Washington International Airport. There were few role models or outreach programs to smooth the way for Burns. "You have to get ahold of females at an early age." "It's still a traditionally male-dominated industry," said Lisa Ledewitz, vice president of communications and marketing for the school. At Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla., female students make up about 14 percent of the total. However, a growing number of pilots are earning their wings at private flight schools, where women are more common.īoth airlines and aviation schools say they actively pursue women candidates, conducting outreach programs at high schools to attract students proficient in math and science. Historically, a majority of commercial pilots came from a military flying background, but women were not allowed to train as fighter pilots until 1993. "The industry for so long did not hire women and it takes a good many years to get to the senior level where you can hold a senior captain's position," McCoy said. Though their numbers have grown gradually, a relatively small number have graduated from commuter airlines to the major carriers, and even fewer have the seniority it takes to sit in the captain's chair on the biggest planes, such as the Boeing 777. Major airlines didn't start hiring women until government regulators forced the issue in the mid-1970s, McCoy said. The dearth of senior-level women pilots can be attributed in part to the seniority system that governs pilot promotions. ![]() When evaluating pilot candidates, the airline always places qualifications above gender, said Debbie McCoy, senior vice president of flight operations for Continental. But don't go and hire me because I'm filling your quota, because then you're not doing me a favor." If a woman is more qualified, yeah, she should get the job. "I am not a women's libber," Burns said, sitting beneath a wall of plaques and commendations documenting her flying career. And she has become a role model for girls with dreams about becoming a pilot. On her way to the captain's seat, she encountered flight instructors who were more interested in dating her than training her charter airlines that were afraid to hire a woman male co-pilots reluctant to work with her and the occasional passenger who was skeptical of flying with a woman in the cockpit.įor her persistence, she has been congratulated and honored by presidents, senators and mayors.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |