I have always hated the idea that I can’t do something just because I am a woman, or that a man would do a better job than I would. Knowing aviation was such a male dominated industry, and knowing that the only way to change that is to get more women in the industry helped to fuel my desire to be a pilot.
I always knew that the majority of pilots were men but I didn’t realize just how bad the gender gap was until I looked at some statistics posted on the Women in Aviation website.
According to the FAA’s database, as of December 2017, women made up 7.01% of pilots in the United States. That honestly blew my mind. Today, society has been pushing so hard for women’s rights, and closing the gender gap in corporate America, but aviation is one of the industry’s that still has a very big gap to overcome. 
One thing that I never could understand growing up is why there weren’t more female pilots. There are no aspects of the job that would make it harder for a woman to perform. Commercial airline positions can pay a good salary and you get the opportunity to travel for a living. I guess the schedule would probably be the most offputting to women because it forces you to leave home for days at a time, but flight attendants work on the same schedule and consist of mostly women.
This huge imbalance in aviation could be due to a mindset that the plane is traditionally flown by a man. One of the most important factors in being able to properly fly an aircraft however, is the ability to make good decisions in stressful situations. With multiple studies indicating that women tend to have better decision making skills, and take fewer risks, there is no reason that people should prefer to see a man in the cockpit instead of a woman.
With many pilots nearing retirement and a huge boom in the travel indusrty, it is estimated that over 600,000 new commercial pilots will be needed in the next decade. Hopefully this can be a chance for more women to get into the industry and help promote more women to defy stereotypes and follow their dreams. 
Hi Cheyenne!
Before reading this post, I hadn’t previously thought about the lack of women pilots present in the travel industry. I thought this was an interesting take, and I agree that it is important women get more representation, so young women can see themselves in the cockpit!
Wow I guess I never really thought too deeply about the lack of women pilots, however I remember I had a flight with a head female pilot and I was stoked about it. We definitely need more women in the air!
Cheyenne had some amazing points about the lack of women currently in the commercial aviation field! I think women have a lot to offer the industry and I hope to see incentives to diversify the field and encourage more women to become members of this esteeemed position.
Two pilots made history on Alaska Airlines in May 2018: Captain Tara Wright and First Officer Mallory Cave piloted a flight together from San Francisco to Portland on Alaska Airlines on May 13. While this may not seem like extraordinary news at first glance, Wright and Cave were the first all-African-American flight crew to pilot for the airline. We have such a long way to go to get more women and POC in this field. Congrats