Great Flight – Flown By A FEMALE CAPTAIN!!

Yes, all you need is a drink nothing more. Service goes beyond the meal. As long as the crew are friendly and punctual then that is all that matters.

Sounds like a good plan batboy 😀

I think Mongu just made the perfect conclusion to what has been a heated discussion – why not call a halt and all remain friends:D

Comet, you are completely right. The worst flight I’ve ever had was also by a male captain. These two experiences just weren’t great, however in retrospect I was wrong to suddenly pounce on the subject in the manner that I did.

Men and Women both have places in the cockpit and that’s the way it should be.

Now for some more comments now I’ve read all the replies.
Saab – yes, I stayed in Dublin, only Monday to Thursday. The people had great character and I loved Guinness the way it should be poured and served. Aer Lingus don’t seem to have a meal service on short flights, we were just offered tea, coffee, water or juice. I will fly there again though, with EI and spend more time in Dublin and see other areas of the country.
Martin – not being insulting, but women were flying aircraft before you or your parents were even born, my Grandfather who served in the RAF in WW2 spoke of seeing the female pilots of the Air Transport Auxiliary delivering Spitfires to the front line squadrons quite successfully. The worst flight I ever had was flown by a male captain. It is a fact that women who say they are interested in aviation invariably get asked “why don’t you be an air stewardess?” Would they say to a guy “why don’t you push a bloody trolley up and down the aircraft, serve drinks, have passengers speak to you like you are sh*t”? No, of course they wouldn’t. I am interested in avaition because I am interested in aircraft and the technology behind powered flight, not wearing a bloody short skirt and high heels and having a fixed grin for hours on end.
Kabir – pregnancy is not an automatic issue for all women. Not all of us want, or even like, children.
I praised Aer Lingus because, unlike certain airlines I could mention, they obviously respect the ability of their female pilots, and if people object to pilots merely on the grounds of being female, then they know where they can go.

yes perhaps!

Perhaps in India but I’ve talked crews and seen a difference in US, Canadian and British operations. Those 3 countries make up most air travel in the world which would mean a majority of pilot groups are changing from the male dominated environment to one where females are just as welcome.

Originally posted by mongu
I know, but the point is that these things are less important than they used to be – the gap is narrowing.

hmm somehow im not convinced!

Also carbon brakes work better and have a longer life if they are warm (but not hot). We were having a problem at work with a short life expectancy for brake pads and it was to crews not warming up the brakes on the landing, rather using the reversers and then only applying brakes as they exited the runway. Practice now is to touchdown, start applying light brakes and then deploy the reversers if necessary. By the time you reach the exit the brakes are warm enough to be applied fully and reducing the wear on them.

The taxi ‘limit’ in the uk is also just a recommendation not a ‘legal’ thing. God forbid if they start putting Gatso cameras on rapid exit turnoffs!

Matthew M – You mention about riding the brakes. There are 2 types of brake pads used on commercial aircraft, steel and carbon. The wear on a steel pad is proportional to its amount of use whereas the wear on a carbon pad is proportional to the number of applications. Therefore if the aircraft you were on had carbon brakes the flightcrew would have been dragging the brakes through the entire taxi so that there was only one application made and thus reduced brake wear. QED.

I know, but the point is that these things are less important than they used to be – the gap is narrowing.

Women pilots wont bugger out only fr one month mongu.

Originally posted by KabirT
Putting out ur smokes i heard that personaly from a AI pilot!:rolleyes:

WD is right about the pregnancy Kabir. Per my own employment contract, I am entitled to a month of paternity leave in the eventuality, as most men are these days. So male pilots are equally likely to bugger off for a month or two as women are.

Originally posted by martin_EGTK
Whiskey Delta, I’m starting to feel that your comments are getting personal, I was not listeaning in to the conversation, I was an active part of this conversation with the pilots.

Now I never meant it as a personal attack if you will so sorry if you took it that way. As you’ve correct/explained yourself, your initial intent was not blast female pilots but as you’ve noticed associating 2 “bad” experiences with 2 female flight crews comes across a bit different than just saying I had 2 bad experiences.

I’ve also flown many T-Tail aircraft in my time and this nosewheel was slammed down at a much greater force than is usual.

The landing characteristics/techniques of a T-Tail GA aircraft are different than of a large T-Tail aircraft. So if what you’re comparing it to is GA, it’s not quite the same.

Now the latches that hold the O2 passenger masks up aren’t easily released so it’s possible that there were just bad latches that popped loose with the jar of a stiff landing. If all the masked dropped it’s possible that there was a bad switch somewhere and the landing caused the switch to some if not all the masks to drop. I mean, this is only the nose you were talking about so it’s not like the airplane itself came crashing down. I’ve done that a few times and never knocked any masks out of the ceiling. 🙂

Now I know of a guy who dropped the “Rubber Jungle” while taxiing! What the heck did he hit to do that? 😉

One last thing about high speed taxis, a ball park speed to use the nose wheel tiller is around 60 knots which means it’s quite common to exit the runway on a high speed taxiway around that speed. There are no published taxi speed limits at least here in the US. The rule of thumb is no faster than a brisk walk but that doesn’t work in the real world. Can you imagine taxing to the approach end of a 13,000′ runway roughly at a walking pace? You’d have 30 minute taxis to and from the gate. blah.

Originally posted by Whiskey Delta
I totally agree. Making light of the fact that you hire female pilots is just as bad as stating that female pilots are of a less caliber than males. In one case you build them up because you hire them and the other you tear them down becaues they’re women. If it wasn’t for social pressure I’m sure there would be a lot less women flying at the majors as a lot were given a shot at that job a lot earlier in their careers than more experienced male pilots. I’m not saying that they wouldn’t have gotten there eventually but a lot got their foot in the door years ahead of male pilots due to no other reason than they are women. Now I don’t lose sleep over it. It happens, but the percentage of women in aviation is so small that it really doesn’t impact the job progression of anyone.

Holy smokes dude, where do you get your information? They don’t hire women because they can become preganant and need time off? I’ve NEVER heard that. That’s like saying they never hire old pilots because they are more likely to become sick and need to call off work. Most airlines have provisions in their contracts allowing time off for women if they become pregnant AND MEN too so they can be home with their wife around the time she gives birth. By your logic they shouldn’t hire married guys so they won’t ask to be off to help with the new born.

Unhealthy to fly? I will agree that the average woman can’t handle the same about of G-Force a male can but most Air Forces don’t take the average Woman OR Male to be a fighter pilot. Plus I’ve never experienced any flight condition that would require anyone to live through more than 2 G’s. I’d be more worried about some of our old fat pilots that break out in a sweat after lifting their flight case.

I don’t think women leave after getting married or pregnant. Just like any male pilot they put in waaaaay to much work in getting where they are, they don’t easily through that away and leave their job. Most female airline pilots I know are married and a good portion of them have kids already.

As I said in my response to mongu, a lot of operators go out of their way to hire female pilots, albeit still a very small percentage.

Putting out ur smokes i heard that personaly from a AI pilot!:rolleyes:

Originally posted by mongu
I don’t think airlines should be congratulated for employing females though.

I totally agree. Making light of the fact that you hire female pilots is just as bad as stating that female pilots are of a less caliber than males. In one case you build them up because you hire them and the other you tear them down becaues they’re women. If it wasn’t for social pressure I’m sure there would be a lot less women flying at the majors as a lot were given a shot at that job a lot earlier in their careers than more experienced male pilots. I’m not saying that they wouldn’t have gotten there eventually but a lot got their foot in the door years ahead of male pilots due to no other reason than they are women. Now I don’t lose sleep over it. It happens, but the percentage of women in aviation is so small that it really doesn’t impact the job progression of anyone.

Originally posted by KabirT
First of all the main reason why airlines and even Air Forces avoid women pilots is due to there personal reasons, pregnency etc. All this results in a big amount of off days.

Second it CAN be unhealthy for women to take the pressures of flying. It has been medicaly proven that G forces donot co-operate well with a womens functional system.

Third, even if women join as pilots they tend to leave (in most cases) after marriage, pregnancy etc.

So seeing all these factors, to me atleast reason is clear why aiirliens and air forces avoid female pilots. They cant keep on looking for replacements.

Holy smokes dude, where do you get your information? They don’t hire women because they can become preganant and need time off? I’ve NEVER heard that. That’s like saying they never hire old pilots because they are more likely to become sick and need to call off work. Most airlines have provisions in their contracts allowing time off for women if they become pregnant AND MEN too so they can be home with their wife around the time she gives birth. By your logic they shouldn’t hire married guys so they won’t ask to be off to help with the new born.

Unhealthy to fly? I will agree that the average woman can’t handle the same about of G-Force a male can but most Air Forces don’t take the average Woman OR Male to be a fighter pilot. Plus I’ve never experienced any flight condition that would require anyone to live through more than 2 G’s. I’d be more worried about some of our old fat pilots that break out in a sweat after lifting their flight case.

I don’t think women leave after getting married or pregnant. Just like any male pilot they put in waaaaay to much work in getting where they are, they don’t easily through that away and leave their job. Most female airline pilots I know are married and a good portion of them have kids already.

As I said in my response to mongu, a lot of operators go out of their way to hire female pilots, albeit still a very small percentage.

How did I know where this thread would end up…

I remember the pilot I had on my Air Atlanta Tristar flight.
He really added to the experience an American guy we came belting round the turning circle on take off and just went for it and the landing was just the same he really slammed it down plus he had a sense of humour!

No, but pilots must get airsick sometimes!

Originally posted by mongu
Many men are excellent pilots, ditto women, ditto Asians, ditto little green men…

Are you sure about that last one there Mongu ? Or did sub orbital flight just start recruiting ? (lol)