'Being a female pilot can be tough - one man told me to go back to the kitchen'
A pilot who was told to 'stay in the kitchen' by one of her trainers has spoken of the trials, tribulations and great parts of being a woman in the cockpit.
On International Women's Day Liliana Gearap, Boeing 737 First Officer at TAROM, has lifted the lid on the hurdles she faced to get herself behind the controls of a commercial aircraft. Those included some of culturally ingrained psychological barriers.
The Romanian aviator revealed how before she embarked on her pilot training at 25, part of her thought that women were more suitable for "more lady like professions, like education".
"I had to overcome that mentality I was brought up with," Lilian told the Mirror. "The skill came to me very naturally. Now a days to be a pilot there is a lot of mind involved, less physical force to fly a plane than there used to be, now there are more electrics. You don't need as much muscles as you used to, you need more brain."
The world of commercial piloting is still made up of far more men (Getty Images)While Liliana took to the Captain's seat particularly readily, her training experience was not all plain flying. As she was earning her type rating to fly a Boeing 747, one instructor in particular questioned whether Liliana should be there.
Red Arrow pilot forced to send out emergency alert after bird smashes into jet
"I had an instructor that would say to me 'Are you sure you want to do this, are you sure you want to do this with your life, wouldn't you be better in the kitchen?'" she explained.
For the 37-year-old, the instructor was not exhibiting pure old fashioned sexism, but was pushing her to get better. "It was his way of making me even tougher. It is old school," she said. "People in Eastern Europe point out what you're not good at, to make you more ambitious."
Liliana believes the instructor "came with good intentions", yet she managed to harness his words to push herself on. "In the back of my head I'd tell myself he was doing this to make me more ambitious, but I wanted to prove him wrong, " she said.
Globally there is one of the largest gender gaps among commercial aviators of any profession. The ICAO found that just 4.9% of all pilots, air traffic controllers, and maintenance technicians worldwide were women in 2021.
Liliana had to battle with the idea that there is something inherently masculine about the work of a pilot, and work out how to harness what she sees as her more emotional side. "The feeling you have entering this area is you have to be in control, not emotional. You can't let emotions take over," she said.
Liliana has also struggled to marry the personal and professional sides of her life, occasionally bring the sense of control she exhibits in the cockpit into her relationships.
"When I started a mature relationship, I realised I had the tendency to overtake everything. I wouldn't let him pay for anything, or give me presents. I didn't need anything," she said.
"I had my daughter three years ago. It was a struggle for me the first year. I returned five months after she was born and I was struggling bringing together these two parts of my life. I wanted to be a pilot and be 100% when flying the aircraft, and my mind can't be somewhere else. A lot of people need my full focus. At the same time, I was kind of anxious when I turned my phone off and no one could reach me the first few times (flying as a mum)."
Liliana has now been flying for six years and regularly travels from her home in Bucharest to destinations Spain, France, Italy, UK and Egypt.
"My job requires a lot of passion, a bit of adrenaline and continual self-improvement of both my flying and communication skills. It’s a complex job because I’m not simply flying the plane," she added.
Plane passengers stuck on flight for 13 hours - only to end up where they began
"I’m also managing communications with the crew, the ground teams, air traffic control and our passengers while being aware of changing factors such as weather and other aircraft. I like to think that at the end of each flight I’ve improved a little and that is very rewarding.
"The airplane doesn't know if the pilot is a woman or a man, but the schedule can be challenging to women who are more likely to be the family caregivers. The job requires being away from your children overnight, during the holidays, for birthdays and other important events, but luckily things are changing, and the number of women pilots is rising. As the world progresses, so is our industry."
Liliana spoke to the Mirror to highlight the International Air Transport Association's 25by2025 initiative, which aims to increase the number of women in senior positions and under-represented areas by 25%, or up to a minimum of 25% by 2025.
Evgenia Starkova, Head of Marketing and Sustainability at SkyTeam said: "One of the significant barriers to career advancement for women in aviation, especially in STEM roles, is the lack of structural support, as well as limited access to development and promotion opportunities. Despite the abundance of outstanding female talent in the aviation industry, this remains a persistent issue. Underrepresentation is very common, further perpetuating the situation.
"It is critical for our industry to champion the professional growth of women and embed diversity within our lived experience, ensuring a nurturing and motivational setting for success. Initiatives like RISE and IATA 25by2025 demonstrate SkyTeam's commitment to fostering such an environment."
Check out by signing up to our free weekly newsletter.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
