Qantas pilots call out ‘deplorable’ comments by some of their own

The airline’s pilots have slammed as ‘deplorable’ sexist comments by some of their own about women pilots posted on a social media forum.

Qantas pilots have slammed as “deplorable” sexist comments by some of their own about women pilots posted on a social media forum.

Three pilots, including two who no longer work for Qantas and one who is currently not flying, suggested women pilots had an unfair advantage at the airline but still complained of “unconscious bias”.

“Women pilots have a huge advantage. They can go off, run their breeding program or get a cushy job in the office at twice the pay of the other full time office staff whilst chest feeding,” said the post revealed by The Herald Sun on Tuesday.

“Have their kids. Keep their seniority number. Come back and do their command. Be chosen for management roles over a dude.”

Qantas pilots have used a “blokey” online chat forum to make misogynistic comments about women.

The Australian and International Pilots Association, which represents Qantas pilots, confirmed the “authors” were not members of the union.

AIPA president Tony Lucas said the comments were simply deplorable.

“They could not be reasonably condoned in any decent workplace, let alone in aviation, where co-operation and respect for your colleagues is crucial to doing your job effectively,” said Captain Lucas.

“I know the overwhelming majority of Australian pilots would find these views abhorrent, and it is important to note a handful of forum comments are not remotely representative of the broader group.”

Australian Federation of Air Pilots president Louise Pole said sexism remained an issue in the aviation industry but it had diminished significantly.

She said when she began her career, derogatory comments from male colleagues were almost a daily occurrence but now that was extremely rare.

“I think that’s the result of more women pilots being employed by airlines, and also society’s intolerance of sexism in the workplace,” said Captain Pole.

“Airlines in Australia are showing support for equal participation of men and women and taking a lot of positive action.

“Really women are there to do the job they love, just as their male counterparts are and if all the participants on the flight deck keep that in mind, then everyone has an enjoyable day of work.”

Qantas pilots have used a ‘blokey’ online chat forum to make misogynistic comments about women.

Qantas also distanced itself from the posts which appeared on a chat room that was external to the airline’s own employee forums.

Chief pilot Dick Tobiano said the comments were “completely unacceptable, offensive and did not reflect their values”.

“They have no place here or in any other workplace,” said Captain Tobiano.

“We have many talented female pilots at Qantas, and we want to encourage a lot more of them. Aviation hasn’t been good at that historically and clearly some outdated thinking still

exists in some pockets. Criticism of these programs doesn’t change our views.”

About 7 per cent of Qantas pilots and 15 per cent of QantasLink pilots are women. Globally, women account for just 5 per cent of commercial airline pilots.

The forum posts came to light as Qantas sought to strike out a case brought by pilot Davida Forshaw, accusing the airline of sex discrimination and harassment.

Documents lodged in the Federal Court by Ms Forshaw claimed she was told that she would “do better” if she dyed her hair blonde and wore a push-up bra.

Qantas was seeking to have the case dismissed on the basis the allegations made by Ms Forshaw were “embarrassing, vague and an abuse of the court process”.

Justice John Snaden adjourned his judgment after hearing the interlocutory application by Qantas in the Federal Court in Melbourne on Wednesday.