FedEx female pilots fly all over the world, transporting cargo as precious as a human heart, as adorable as a pair of panda cubs, or as unique as Catherine the Great’s jewel-encrusted icon – so they are used to transporting various curiosities from place to place. It is their job, which they love. At the same time, they would prefer that a woman in a pilot’s uniform was not treated as an unusual phenomenon in their profession.
It is estimated that only 6% of pilots worldwide are women. This rate is growing, but very slowly. Annie Mattos, a FedEx pilot from a small town in Oregon, now working at the company’s German hub in Cologne, always felt that the prospect of becoming a pilot made her heart beat faster. She was not disappointed. Captain Mattos caught the aviation bug quite early – she started flying as a teenager, at the age of 19. She passed this passion on to her 20-year-old daughter, who is also training for the profession.
“You can fly a plane!”
– My dad is a pilot – said Captain Mattos, one of the female pilots considered a role model in the industry. – That’s how I came into contact with this profession. It was my father who encouraged me to fly. I remember writing an essay in ninth grade about my future career, where I had to choose three professions that interested me – one of them was being a flight attendant, because I liked the prospect of traveling. And my dad said then: “Don’t think about being a flight attendant, you can become a pilot!” I think that was when I first realized that it was also possible.
Female pilots often say that the lack of awareness that it is even possible for them to occupy a seat in the cockpit is one of the biggest barriers to the growth in the number of women choosing the pilot profession. However, there are, of course, other challenges. Night shifts, long absences from home, and irregular schedules can be an additional problem in organizing family life. However, parents working in many other industries have to deal with such challenges as well.
“There are ways for mothers to fly and spend more time with their children.”
Susanne Brun, another FedEx pilot employed at the Cologne airport and living in Stockholm, also comes from a family of aviators. Her father was once a private pilot, and her sister now flies planes for Delta Air Lines. Captain Brun, who has an eight-year-old son, believes that there are ways for parents – especially mothers – to fly and still have enough time for their children. She even claims that her chosen profession is better in this respect than others, because thanks to it, she can spend a lot of time with her son when she is not on duty, instead of spending a few hours with him sporadically, if she manages to find a free moment.
– I know parents employed at FedEx who are both pilots, so they have to have a 24-hour nanny to be able to practice their profession. But you can organize it all properly. It is good for a child when one of the parents is at home every night. I cannot provide that for my son, but I can offer him a different kind of stability – when I am home, I am there around the clock. If I am not working at the moment, I am always at my child’s disposal.
When asked if it makes any difference whether a man or a woman occupies the pilot’s seat, all these ladies quickly answer “no”! They also claim that the vast majority of their fellow pilots agree with this opinion, regardless of the prejudices that may have existed on this issue a generation or several ago. Captain Brun claims that all pilots are similar to each other, regardless of gender. “I would say they all have Type A personalities – they always want to be in control of everything.”
Women often have different skills
Molly Boss, a FedEx pilot working at the Hong Kong airport, is happy that women have started to make a name for themselves in this profession, as they often have different skills that complement the qualifications possessed by their colleagues in the cockpit.
Captain Brun claims that both men and women at the controls have something valuable to offer and can work together to create an optimal team. – I think a man and a woman in the cockpit is a good combination that provides diversity and different points of view.
Women in aviation are nothing new. The Wright brothers made their first flight in 1903, and as early as 1910, the Frenchwoman Raymonde de Laroche became the
first woman in the world to obtain a pilot’s license. In the same year, the American Bessica Medlar Raiche became the first woman in the country to fly a plane solo. In 1932, over 80 years ago, the legendary pilot Amelia Earhart became the first woman in the world to fly solo across the Atlantic. Unfortunately, she died tragically in 1937 during a flight around the world. This and many other female pilots will remain an inspiration for women who fly planes or dream of doing so. Today, the Women in Aviation, International (WAI) organization has over 9,000 members, including industry specialists, students, enthusiasts… and pilots.
Female pilots employed at FedEx were, are, and will be proud of their profession and intend to continue practicing it. Most of them also claim that they consider it their mission to promote this passion among as many young women as possible, so that they too can “take to the skies”. – It is, of course, a job – said Captain Mattos, who has been flying for over 20 years – but an excellent job. It is always associated with new challenges, there is always something engaging and intriguing in it that makes you give your all. Something that makes it fun all the time. Despite so many years of working in this profession, I still love to fly.
Regarding flying planes, Captain Mattos and all other female pilots employed at FedEx claim that the sky is definitely for women too.