Let’s get real here for a bit. This topic may not feel politically correct to some, and it is somewhat debatable that what I write here is my opinion. I am okay with that. I hope you will take what I say here, think about it, and take what truths you can. Think critically for yourself and consider how what I say applies to your circumstances.

This world isn’t fair. If you thought it was, you were kidding yourself, or you haven’t experienced it yet. But you probably have some advantages you can leverage if you plan and recognize your strengths and weaknesses.

To call them this, may “trigger” some people’s feelings. Grow up. It’s time to consider the career path like an adult.

Historically, aviation was an ex-military, white male-dominated field. That has changed, is changing, and will continue to change. Like any other major company, a diverse workforce is the goal of most modern major airlines. Diversity in hiring is targeted in many companies and if you happen to have attributes that help companies expand their “diversity,” you may be able to leverage them in your job search efforts.

Like any major university that helps flow pilots to airlines and has hiring relationships, so do many special interest aviation groups. Groups such as Women in Aviation (WAI), the National Gay Pilots Association (NGPA), and the Organization for Black Aviation Professionals (OBAP) are but a few sub-groups of aviation that also have similar relationships. If you are a member of one of those groups, you may find that those relationships help you get a leg up for an interview and, sometimes, realistically, being hired for many jobs.

Ok, if I am not being blunt enough yet, let’s spell it out.

Suppose you represent any demographic group that is more heavily recruited or perceived to be underrepresented in the pilot career. In that case, you may get hired over an equivalent candidate who is the same age and has the same experience and qualifications but is representative of the more prevalent demographics historically present in aviation.

That doesn’t guarantee success, however.

Sometimes, the early leg up can be a detriment.

Training programs at regional airlines are structured to help budding pilots get the initial training required to be successful in those operations. They recognize that less experienced pilots need more training than those who have already served in airline operations. A major airline does not build in as much basic training, assuming that the skill base of a hire to a major airline already likely has real-world operational experience and previous airline training. When someone “jumps the line” and gets hired by a major airline as a “diversity hire,” they may times don’t come with this previous experience base.

There are multiple instances I have seen first-hand where individuals were hired directly to major airlines at lower experience levels than they probably should have been. They didn’t have real-world job experience for the more advanced positions. In these cases, the individuals did not have the experience to leverage to be successful and failed out of training processes. Fundamentally, it boiled down to the lack of their ability to take the limited experience they had and make it through the major airline on boarding process. This actually did more harm to their career, and potentially careers of others who had similar experience bases for the long term.

Use your diversity, but also recognize when you are really ready to take training or jobs that will be the result. The career path has a natural progression from smaller to larger aircraft, from lesser to more complex operations. I can’t tell you exactly when you will be ready for every step, but if you aren’t ready, don’t take the step. Be honest with yourself; take it when you are ready to make the most of it. 

Taking a career jump too early and failing out can do more damage to your career. Having to explain to that next job that you failed out of one airline can make getting the next job harder for good reason. An employer wants to put their training dollars into someone who is going to succeed. Showing them a track of record of being a bad bet for that is not motivational for the hiring process.

Interestingly, the stories I mentioned above of the “diversity hires” who failed out early in their training are examples of how this can actually hurt others of similar characteristics in their career. Stereotypes are unacceptable, but in each of these cases the stories were conveyed to me by pilots from those operations and characterizations by other staff from those organizations that disparaged the hires. “See, this is why “X” shouldn’t be given hiring preference just to check a box!” This is obviously biased and politically incorrect. Are they wrong? Yes. And no. If we hire people to check a box, we may have hired the wrong people for the job. But if you get hired to check a box, that means you need to make sure you are not a wasted hire.

If you are going to leverage your diversity, be the best example. Study longer. Work harder. Be more knowledgeable. Don’t take any advantage you have leveraged for granted. Own it, and be the example of why employers should hire people who exemplify the same qualities. If you’re a female aviator it’s not about getting hired just because you are a female aviator. It’s about being the best aviator you can be who just happens to be female.

In the end, what really matters most is that you are qualified, proficient, and a safe aviator who will perform at or better than standards for all pilots. We don’t care if you’re a guy or a girl as a pilot, we care if you’re a good pilot.

Leveraging any diversity you may have can be done at all levels of aviation. It doesn’t just have to be something you consider for that final job at the major airline. Entrance selection to collegiate aviation programs, scholarships for schooling, training, or type ratings, and any other type of career progress you are trying to make may be able to take advantage of diversity.

So what should you leverage?

Well, it depends. What makes you unique?

Find the special interest you exemplify and go searching for scholarships or where an organization may help you get training, education, or that first job. There are scholarships focused on specific demographics such as for airline employees children, for individuals of Native American heritage, and female aviators to name just a very few of the opportunities that exist.

In a best-of-the-best example I have encountered, I had the opportunity to meet one individual who “checked a bunch of boxes” and made the effort to take advantage of them. As a gay male who was part Native American and part Hispanic, he basically treated the process of finding scholarships as his job during his last year of high school and throughout college. He wrote essays, he took training, and he became a student ambassador. When he took his first job at an airline, a regional one, he became a recruiter while also “flying the line”. By the time he graduated college, he was already hired by an airline, and actually had money left over from the scholarships he had accumulated. He put the work in, but he recognized his strengths and found places where those diverse characteristics could be monitored. There is no reason anyone reading this book can’t do the same for themselves.

I will say that I think what makes a good pilot has nothing to do with gender, race or sexual preference. If you are a good pilot, you will get hired. Unfortunately, in some cases, even if you are not a good pilot, you may still get hired for a job you aren’t quite ready for. Be smart enough to know if you aren’t ready. You will save yourself a lot of frustration and protect your long-term career while also denying the “old boys” an opportunity to say “see….people like X don’t make good pilots”. Don’t waste your time or energy being ticked off or hurt by comments from old-school pilots who are not going to be around much longer anyway.