Female Captain And First Officer

joshdean · Fri Jan 27, 2006 6:31 pm

How often (if at all) does this occur, especially with major airlines?

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Photo © Dieter Spiess gen. Bongard

Beats a nurses uniform IMHO wink

Found this one...

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Photo © Serge Bailleul - AirTeamImages

More interested to hear about civil aviation though.

FlySSC · Fri Jan 27, 2006 6:42 pm

On my last flight AF069, LAX-CDG last Monday Jan.23rd. B772ER.

Rick767 · Fri Jan 27, 2006 6:43 pm

Flew First Choice Airways not long ago (A320) and had an all-female crew (front and back). It's not that uncommon.

About 5% of UK ATPL holders are female, but it's increasing. If you look at UK ATPL holders aged 25-35 it's more like 7% female, but over 50 it's only about 1%.

B707321C · Fri Jan 27, 2006 6:43 pm

It happend to me on a AF flight MAN-CDG last year on a A320. The entire crew was female. Captain, First Officer and all the flight attendents. Very nice flight by the way.

himmat01 · Fri Jan 27, 2006 6:45 pm

All female cockpit and cabin crew is quite common on IC.

B6FA4ever · Fri Jan 27, 2006 6:50 pm

hey all,

this is a pretty cool topic/funny (for me anyways). last year i remember working an LGB-JFK flight and i was the only guy working the flight. 2 female pilots and 3 other F/A's. i was in heaven!!! *LOL* even some of the passnegers felt bad for me (jokingly of course) cause of all the estrogen buildup w/ the working crew and then there's me. i told them...no worries...i brought lots of chocolate with me just in case! duck

~B6FA4ever

777klm · Fri Jan 27, 2006 6:59 pm

KLM has alot of female captains and F/O...
It happens very often that the entire cockpit crew is female!

AirIndia · Fri Jan 27, 2006 6:59 pm

Quoting Himmat01 (Reply 4):
All female cockpit and cabin crew is quite common on IC.

They do that very frequently on the DEL-UDR-BOM sector

777 · Fri Jan 27, 2006 7:02 pm

Hi,

I've already asked something similar to the A.netters... look here

Cheers!

antoniemey · Fri Jan 27, 2006 7:06 pm

Well, definitely not mainline, but while I was working for DGS on the Delta Ramp here in BNA we'd get the occaisional all female crew on Chautauqua coming in from MCO or FLL.

joshdean · Fri Jan 27, 2006 7:26 pm

Quoting 777 (Reply 8):
I've already asked something similar to the A.netters... look here

Thanks, I know the topic of female flight crew has been discussed to death in the past, just more interested in when you get an all-female crew! Smile

as739x · Fri Jan 27, 2006 7:29 pm

Probably daily at Alaska. We had a all female crew on our afternoon LAX-PVR-LAX flight.

ASLAX

MerlinIIIB · Fri Jan 27, 2006 8:43 pm

All female crew on Wideroe DCH-8-300 from Sandefjord Torp (TRF) to Stavanger (SVG) observed last year. No comments from passengers as Norway had a female majority government and a female PM even in the 1980s....

turnit56N · Fri Jan 27, 2006 9:54 pm

I read something not too recently that said about 3% of all airline pilots were female. Because the percentage is increasing all the time (flight schools today average about 10% female), you're much more likely to have an all-female flight crew on a regional than a major.

My girlfriend is a senior FO for a US regional, and she says she flies with a female captain about once every other month. They do get comments, but it's usually only about one person per flight that has the guts to say something smart to them in the flight deck.

Ansett767 · Fri Jan 27, 2006 10:16 pm

My first ever Ryanair flight last November has an all female cockpit, plus cabin crew!

Was super cool Smile

HBJZA · Fri Jan 27, 2006 10:23 pm

What would be interesting to know is the number of female pilots in different country.

As said before, UK has 5 % women pilots. This is probably true for all occidental countries but what about Middle Eastern countries, Asia, Africa ??

Thanks for the infos if known

swissy · Fri Jan 27, 2006 10:32 pm

WS has quite a bid of females in the cockpit, was always a pleasure working
and talking with them.

Cheers,

jetbluefan1 · Fri Jan 27, 2006 10:46 pm

October of last year from JFK-ROC on JetBlue, both the Captain and F.O were women. Interestingly enough, they wore the male pilot uniform - black pants, black button down shirt and tie! Nevertheless, they still looked stunning Wink

JetBluefan1

joshdean · Fri Jan 27, 2006 10:49 pm

Quoting HBJZA (Reply 15):
what about Middle Eastern countries, Asia, Africa ??

Take a look at the caption on this one...

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Photo © Oliver Brunke

cbphoto · Sat Jan 28, 2006 12:13 am

Had an all female crew on United from MSP-DEN-PHX! I can imagine that here in the US it is quite common for an all female crew!

iahcsr · Sat Jan 28, 2006 12:50 am

At CO/CoEx, I've seen it a lot on the ERJs, a few times on the 737s, not as of yet (although very possible) on the bigger craft. bigthumbsup

Tornado82 · Sat Jan 28, 2006 1:04 am

ExpressJet. One of the smoothest landings I ever had in any ERJ was an all woman crew...

We knew we had a woman f/o but the captain sneaked in quietly and hadn't spoken on the PA all flight. After we landed very smooth on 24 @ ABE, while waiting for our gate-checked bags, the gentleman who was sitting behind me goes "How did ya like that landing? They must not let that woman land it." Just then the captain pops out and goes "No, this woman landed it instead." That guy felt pretty embarassed after that happened.

It's not a problem, but it seems like they are very hard to understand on the PA from the flight deck, its almost as if that mic/speaker setup is designed for the tone of a male voice. Women are understandable on the F/A mics, but never on the flight deck mics.

aircanada014 · Sat Jan 28, 2006 1:09 am

I talked to one of female pilot for AC and I asked her how many female pilots does AC have and she said about 60 female pilots.

N766UA · Sat Jan 28, 2006 1:11 am

Heh... you know you're an airliners.net geek when you call a military crew "captain" and "first officer."

fxramper · Sat Jan 28, 2006 1:14 am

My uncle's progression through the ranks at AA:

727 F/O (4 yrs)
DC10 F/O (4 yrs, got to fly to HNL outta DFW!)
MD80 Capt. (5 yrs)
727 Capt. (5 yrs)
757 Capt. (4 yrs)
767 Capt. (6 yrs, currently)

I think he said the last time he flew with a woman in the right seat was back on the Madog. (He is a sexist pig though! I bet his F/O on the 763 is a woman! Smile

)

Anyone know the % of women commercial airline pilots today?

A3204eva · Sat Jan 28, 2006 2:04 am

The majority of my EIN flights have a female captain, but the last one I went on had a female f/o (not both at same time) Smile

She was quite good looking actually Wink

Talking to me about my flying while I sat back in the captain's seat Big grin

aogdesk · Sat Jan 28, 2006 2:24 am

I was priveliged enough to see a female capt. put her f/o in his place......she's really nice (very attractive too)..but he said something that just pissed her off and she made it VERY clear that he shouldn't EVER say that again in her airplane. No, shes not a prude, and he DID deserve it.

I also had a male B727 capt tell me that he simply couldn't figure out why a woman would want to do a mans job. He had a female F/O and S/O that night. I didn't know how to respond to that.

pilottj · Sat Jan 28, 2006 2:43 am

"when there is an all female crew, they no longer call it a cockpit...it is called a box-office" Big grin

Seriously, female pilots are just like their male counterparts, many good pilots with a few bad apples mixed in. I had a couple of female check pilots when I was training at ERAU, some were quite attractive.

Talked with quite a few female ATC controllers as well and same story as the pilots, many are kind and proffessional but a few who are bitchy.

Cheers
TJ

jeffrey1970 · Sat Jan 28, 2006 2:57 am

I remember reading an article a few years ago in the USAToday, about a father who is a Captain for Southwest airlines, and his daughter was the First Officer

xpat · Sat Jan 28, 2006 3:06 am

Quoting A3204eva (Reply 25):
She was quite good looking actually

Quoting Aogdesk (Reply 26):
(very attractive too)..

Is ugliness a prerequisite for female captains or F/O's?

RyGuy · Sat Jan 28, 2006 3:21 am

Last time i was flying on Air Canada YUL-YYZ -Airbus A321- We had an all female flight crew. The F/O was a chick, the Captain was a chick and all the F/A's were chicks too. If you ask me... HUBA HUBA thats hot!

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Cheers

RyGuy

BCAL · Sat Jan 28, 2006 3:27 am

If it is any help, the following link gives details of male/female pilots in the UK, although it is four years out of date now
http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/175/srg_fcl_Age2000StatsProfessional.PDF

An all female crew is nothing new. European a.netters might remember Dan-Air who had all female flight and cabin crews back in the 1970s.

SA7700 · Sat Jan 28, 2006 3:28 am

We had a female captain and FO on SA207 from ACC-IAD. It was cool to hear a female voice from the cockpit, over the PA system, for a change.

Rgds

SA7700

BMIFlyer · Sat Jan 28, 2006 3:32 am

A very Sexy (female) F/O flew me to ORD last year on a BD A332 Big grin

Nice to see a chick in control of such heavy metal Wink

Lee

viscount630 · Sat Jan 28, 2006 3:35 am

WHY ON EARTH does this come as such a surprise to so many A.netters, so often, in this day and age? There have been extremely competent, professional female airline (and military!) pilots about, in increasing numbers for over thirty years! Wake up and smell the Equality Coffee guys wideeyed

aerostar · Sat Jan 28, 2006 3:43 am

Interesting news from PIA while we are on the topic:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1389767.cms

ChicagoFlyer · Sat Jan 28, 2006 3:50 am

Here in the US, Meryl Getline is a (relatively) famous United pilot. She writes a Q&A column Ask the Captain for the USA Today Travel web site.

So she must have flown with some female colleagues--sure enough, on her website here's a picture of her lady copilot in action before landing her 777 at IAD:

neilking · Sat Jan 28, 2006 4:04 am

Yes I admit I'm a fetishist but any more links to pics of girls on the flightdeck? Silly

PH-TVH · Sat Jan 28, 2006 4:05 am

How sexy could it be? hypnotized

No, seriously, I think there should be more female pilots.
It`s good for the image of the airline.
For example: with Transavia.com there are quite a lot female pilots, which have a positive input on the ambiance in the cockpit.
This would work really well on the more "classic" airlines... (you know: macho attitudes, grey captain etc...)
But that`s just my opinion.

Greetings

AMSGOT · Sat Jan 28, 2006 4:07 am

What else's new?

.

.

positiverate · Sat Jan 28, 2006 4:18 am

Quoting FXramper (Reply 24):
My uncle's progression through the ranks at AA:

727 F/O (4 yrs)
DC10 F/O (4 yrs, got to fly to HNL outta DFW!)
MD80 Capt. (5 yrs)
727 Capt. (5 yrs)
757 Capt. (4 yrs)
767 Capt. (6 yrs, currently)

Did AA not start their pilots as a S/O on the 727? Also, is the 757 a separate category then the 767 at AA?

Ken777 · Sat Jan 28, 2006 4:27 am

It's been happening for a long time. In the late 80's I flew AA DFW-OKC and that was 100% female - in the front and back. Just before we landed the Captain announced that she believed that this was the first flight totally "manned" with women. I rather enjoyed that.

My favorite, though, was a QF SYD-PER flight before 9/11 when kids were allowed to go up front during the flight. The First Officer was a woman and she picked up a little girl (7-8 years old?) and put her on her lap (something a man wouldn't do). After a few minutes we drifted very slightly off course and then back again - the First Officer had let the little girl "fly" the plane. I thought that was fantastic - what a way to get someone really interesting in aviation!

The sad part, though, is that kids are no longer allowed up front during flight.

AMSSFO · Sat Jan 28, 2006 4:30 am

Quoting HBJZA (Reply 15):
what about Middle Eastern countries,

Apparently, in Pakistan it's not common at all. PIA just had their first all-female flight crew completing a flight.
http://www.dawn.com/2006/01/26/top11.htm

Quote:
LAHORE, Jan 25: A unique record was set in the country’s aviation history on Wednesday when a woman pilot and her all-women crew flew a PIA Fokker plane without any assistance from men. Captain Ayesha Rabia Naveed was in command of the first all-women crew of the national air carrier
..
“I think PIA should have made this occasion a special one by boarding all female passengers as well. I must tell my family in Islamabad that women no more look after the kitchen only. This is indeed encouraging for our girls,” a housewife said.

At present, Capt Ayesha is the sole woman pilot of PIA who is licenced to fly Fokker plane only. She remained co-pilot or first officer for 15 years and has 6,000 flying hours behind her

aogdesk · Sat Jan 28, 2006 4:35 am

Quoting Xpat (Reply 29):
Is ugliness a prerequisite for female captains or F/O's?

Simply an observation, simmer down. I have the utmost respect for any lady that works her way up, especially in a male dominated role, but regardless of what she does, I appreciate her attractiveness and take note of it. On occasion, if its appropriate, I might even make a comment to her.

ManchesterMAN · Sat Jan 28, 2006 4:39 am

I would think it was less common to have an all male crew than all female - there's usually at least one female FA in the back. So has anyone been on a flight with an all male crew? Can't say I've ever noticed such a thing.

CWAFlyer · Sat Jan 28, 2006 4:54 am

Quoting Positiverate (Reply 40):
Also, is the 757 a separate category then the 767 at AA?

No. My father in law retired from AA 3 years ago and flew both the
757 and 767.

IAHAAPLATINUM · Sat Jan 28, 2006 4:56 am

Quoting ManchesterMAN (Reply 44):
I would think it was less common to have an all male crew than all female - there's usually at least one female FA in the back. So has anyone been on a flight with an all male crew? Can't say I've ever noticed such a thing.

Having and all male crew is certainly more unusual, although I've seen it on occasion. Perhaps even more unusual, in November, 1984, I was on a AA flight from Cincinnati to ORD, 727, with an all female cockpit crew, and an all male cabin crew. I frequently see female cockpit crew on Eagle these days.

GUAMVICE · Sat Jan 28, 2006 5:41 am

I flew PDX to NRT in September of last year on an A330-200. All female crew--smoothest landing I've ever experienced....there's nothing like the touch of a woman...afterwards I congratulated her on it, and she said "you should see me land a 747-400."

TaromA380 · Sat Jan 28, 2006 5:59 am

Women aren't supposed to stay home, clean the house, cook and raise children?

Where is your *male* ego, you travellers? How can you admit the safety of your hairy ass is depending of the intelligence, self-control and responsibility of a errr … woman?

old

Navigator · Sat Jan 28, 2006 6:00 am

Flew with SAS a few months ago ARN - CPH in an MD-80. It was a female captain.

No problem and noone was nervous...

Female pilots are pretty common nowadays. I think most people are used to the idea that pilots do not necessarily have to be men. In our part of the world noone debates this anymore. Noone even talks about it.

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