WAI Letter to WSJ Editor - Safety Standards Remain Consistent for All Pilots

Safety Standards Remain Consistent for All Pilots

RE: Your recent story by Andy Paztor and Andrew Tangel “Boeing’s Latest MAX Concern: Pilots’ Physical Strength” failed to recognize today’s stringent safety standards for ALL pilots. 

As a 14,000-strong worldwide organization, our Women in Aviation International members represent pilots, mechanics, engineers, astronauts, educators, and aviation students that collectively contribute their talents to the safest transportation system in the sky and to the world transportation system. 

Women design and build aircraft, as well as maintain them, crew them, and, safely fly them – including all versions of the Boeing 737. Women are a critically important and growing segment of the aviation and aerospace workforce who are held to the same strict standards of all employees, including pilots. In fact, women have been flying for major airlines since 1973, and today hundreds of female pilots are in the cockpits of Boeing 737 (and larger aircraft) all around the world, safely – with their knowledge, skill, and training as a continuous metric for safe operations.  

Your article does a great disservice to the cadre of female aviation professionals all around the world. It also plants serious misinformation in the minds of the traveling public. Your hypothesis is reminiscent of criticisms women faced in the early part of the 20^thcentury. In 2019, it is disappointing and disheartening to see it in the mainstream press and in a respected publication like the Wall Street Journal.

We invite Messers Paztor and Tangel, and any WSJ writers, editors, or contributors to our next conference (March 5-7, 2020 in Orlando, FL) where our WAI leadership and over 4,000 attendees would be delighted to discuss this issue in great detail. 

Sincerely,

Dr. Peggy Chabrian

President and Founder

Women in Aviation International