Women airline pilot numbers stay low. Aspiration and career structures are key
The UK's female pilot population is growing faster than total pilot numbers.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has reported a 26% increase in all pilot licences (not just airline pilots) issued to women in the UK between 2019 and 2023. This compares with a 15% increase in total pilot licences issued.
However, the proportion of women pilots flying with airlines in the UK, and in the US, is still only around 5%. Globally, this share is in the region of 4% to 6%, although comprehensive and up-to-date figures are hard to find.
Although female cockpit crew numbers are growing, these percentages show that pilot gender equality still has a massive mountain to climb.
The debate has moved on from unfounded questions of competence to challenges surrounding aspiration and career structures.
Meeting these challenges and growing women pilot numbers would help to ease the global pilot shortage and diversify perspectives in a key part of the aviation workforce. As a very basic starting point, all airlines should be required to publish the gender breakdown of their pilot numbers.
- The percentage of UK pilot licences held by women is growing, but is still single digit.
- US women airline pilot numbers grew by 11% in 2023 versus 4% for all airline pilots, but women are still only 5% of airline pilots and 10% of all pilots.
- Globally, women account for between 4% and 6% of airline pilots.
- The debate has moved on from unfounded questions of competence to challenges surrounding aspiration and career structures.
The percentage of UK pilot licences held by women is growing, but is still single digit
The number of all UK pilot licences issued to women increased from 239 in 2019 to 310 in 2023, according to a press release from the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on 24-Jul-2024.
From the data in the press release from the UK regulator, it can be calculated that the proportion issued to women last year increased from 7.3% in 2019 to 8.0% in 2023.
Although it did not give the cumulative share of all current licences that are held by female pilots, the CAA said licences for women remained under 10% cent of the total.
This puts it lower than the 10.3% reported in the US (see below).
Focusing on airline pilot licence holders, CAPA - Centre for Aviation calculations from CAA data indicate that women accounted for 5.2% of the total in the UK in 2023 (similar to the percentage reported in the US). The UK figure was up from 4.3% in 2016 and 4.9% in 2021.
The CAA said that it continues a "big push for more women in aviation".
In the US, women airline pilot numbers grew by 11% in 2023…
In the US, which has the most comprehensive dataset on pilot numbers, 9,071 women held US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certificates as airline pilots at the end of 2023.
This was 11% more than in 2022 and an increase of 87% compared with 2003, 20 years earlier.
US: number of FAA airline pilot certificates held by women, 2003 to 2023*
…compared with a 4% increase in all airline pilots…
The total number of licensed airline pilots, men and women, was 174,113 in 2023.
This was 4% more than in 2022, and 21% more than in 2003, slower growth than for women pilots.
…but women are still only 5% of US airline pilots…
As a result, women's share of US airline pilot licences has grown over 20 years, rising from 3.4% in 2003 to 5.2% in 2023.
Women's share of all FAA pilot licences in the US, including students, recreational, sport, private and commercial as well as airline transport, is higher than this, and has risen more steeply in recent years.
…and 10% of all US pilots
It was 6.0% in 2003 and 10.3% in 2023, having risen sharply from 6.7% as recently as 2016.
The number of women holding FAA student pilot certificates increased almost five times, from 9,897 in 2003 to 49,286 in 2023. As a share of all student pilots, the figure increased from 11.3% in 2003 to 15.6% in 2023.
This indicates a growing interest among women in qualifying as cockpit crew (but these numbers include all categories of student pilots, not only those training to be airline pilots).
US: Share of FAA pilot certificates held by women, 2003 to 2023*
Globally, women account for between 4% and 6% of airline pilots
Data on the global share of female airline pilots, which have not been updated since 2021, vary in a range of 4% to 6%.
At the higher end of this range, a survey published by the International Society of Women Pilots (ISWAP) put the global share at 5.2% in 2018 and 5.8% in 2021.
The ISWAP survey covered only 20 airlines in 2021, so was far from comprehensive. It is possible that may have contained self-selection bias, since airlines responding may be more likely to have a higher ratio of women pilots than those not participating.
According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the female cohort of airline pilots increased from 3.6% in 2016 to 4.0% in 2021. This was highest in North America, at 4.6%, followed by Africa with 4.1%, and Europe with 4.0%.
The debate has moved on from unfounded questions of competence…
Although women pilots often report that they still experience some surprise when they announce themselves to passengers, the debate is no longer stuck on the unfounded question of competence.
In the 1960s, 1970s, and beyond, there was a commonly held view that women were not physically or temperamentally suited to flying aeroplanes.
This view persisted, in spite of the fact that the Frenchwoman Baroness Raymonde de Laroche became the first licensed female pilot as long ago as 1910.
While ignorance and subconscious bias remain challenges, there is no longer any serious question about the ability of women to pilot aircraft.
Moreover, many airlines seek to encourage women pilots to join the workforce.
This is leading to growth in female cockpit crew numbers, but women's share remains extremely low.
…to challenges surrounding aspiration and career structures
The challenges to growing this share to more meaningful levels lie in the aspirations of girls and young women, and in pilot career structures and working patterns.
This starts with increasing the visibility and attractions of flying as a potential career path to girls. As more women become pilots they become role models, a process that airlines can encourage by sending female cockpit staff into classrooms to inspire the next generation.
There is also a broader societal issue in encouraging girls' academic performance in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects, where aptitude is necessary to qualify as a pilot.
Girls and young women also need to see that a career as a pilot can adapt to their changing life plans. This is particularly important for women if they wish to combine working as a pilot with having children.
Flexible working patterns, including the option to work less than a full roster, can allow pilots, both female and male, more time at home with children.
Growing women pilot numbers add to the recruitment pool and diversity
The role of women as airline pilots is just one part of the gender agenda in aviation.
According to ICAO, female aircraft technicians were only 3.0% of the global total in 2021. Female air traffic controllers were 20.6% - much higher than for pilots and aircraft technicians, but still a low figure.
Women are also under-represented in the senior ranks of airline management. On the other hand, over-represented among flight attendants (79% in the US in 2023).
However, flight attendants are typically at the lower end of the salary range in aviation.
Pilots are the highest paid staff group in aviation and probably the most high profile. Increasing the number of women airline pilots sets an example across aviation.
It is also helps to meet important business needs.
Firstly, it grows the recruitment pool at a time when aviation faces a pilot shortage.
Secondly, adding to the population of women pilots brings a more diverse range of outlooks, skills and talents.