The majority of people don't trust female pilots

WOMEN can't handle pressure. That's one of the reasons cited by some air travellers for not trusting women in the pilot seat, according to a new survey.

Do you trust femal pilots? Picture: Thinkstock

A POLL conducted by UK-based travel site sunshine.co.uk showed 51 per cent of British flyers don't trust female pilots. Only 26 per cent of those surveyed said the pilot's gender was irrelevant. Those who would prefer to fly with a male pilot based their decision on "women's inability to handle pressure" and just 14 per cent of the respondents said they would feel safer flying with a female pilot.

According to Women in Aviation International, "During the last two decades, the number of women involved in the aviation industry has steadily increased and women can be found in nearly every aviation occupation today. However, the numbers are small by comparison. Women pilots, for example, represent only six per cent of the total pilot population."

The small number of female pilots in the industry could be part of the reason for the sexist survey results with "fear of the unknown" cited as a reason for the mistrust of female pilots by 10 per cent of the respondents.