Something very interesting happened on

Something very interesting happened on my way back to Portland, as SPRING BREAK 2004 slowly shuddered to a halt. I had the great misfortune to miss a connecting flight and get stranded in the San Jose airport for a couple of hours, desperately hoping that I would get on the next totally full flight and not have to spend a night in some crappy motel by the airport. Forunately, I made it on. But one of the good things about this little delay was that I got to be flown by a female pilot.

Here's how I found out that there was a woman "manning" the plane: I was getting settled into my 1st row aisle seat (not only did I get onto the flight, I got first class), when a guy walks onto the plane and asks the head flight attendent a question. He says, "So, is this lady any good?" And the flight attendent, also a guy, responds, "Yeah, she's alright. This is her first flight."

My first thought is, awesome! Its great to see women breaking into this field. But my second thought is, what a weird interaction I just witnessed. I can maybe understand why someone who has lived with the all-male pilot standard for decades might involuntarily question whether a woman could have all the technical and leadership skills required to properly head that craft. But to walk in and openly question it loudly, while standing directly in front of the open cockpit? Its just rude.

But what really gets to me is the flight attendant's response. He was not in any way supportive of his crew member (and superior), nor did he set the passenger at ease about the flight. "She's allright?" Come on. How hard would it have been to say "Yes." Or make some comment about how Alaskan only hires qualified pilots. Something. And to add in purposefully that it was her first flight seemed quite unprofessional to me. I have never heard of anyone anouncing to passengers that it was a pilot's first flight, even though it must happen all the time. It has to be their first sometime. Not that it should be a secret, but the context in which that information was shared seemed pretty inappropriate to me.

I don't think this is a huge deal, nor am I that suprised that a female pilot should suffer some doubt and resistance. But it did strike me that that conversation would probably have gone a lot differently if it been a male pilot. Well, it probably wouldn't have occured at all. But if someone had made an offhand statement to a flight attendant about Captain John Smith, the answer would probably not leave the passenger feeling like their life was in the hands of an inexperienced, incompetent person who was neither liked nor respected.

Needless to say, the flight was like any other: long, boring, and uneventful. Except that this time, when the captain spoke, I could understand what she said.

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