A WestJet Airlines pilot, Carey Steacy, had just completed a Canadian domestic flight from Victoria to Calgary when cleaning staff brought her this written message. The note, written on a napkin and left on the back of a seat, was signed by ‘David’ from seat 12E.
Steacy posted a picture of the note, and her response, on Facebook: “To @David in 12E on my flight #463 from Calgary to Victoria today. It was my pleasure flying you safely to your destination. Thank you for the note you discreetly left me on your seat. You made sure to ask the flight attendants before we left if I had enough hours to be the Captain so safety is important to you, too. I have heard many comments from people throughout my 17 year career as a pilot. Most of them positive. Your note is, without a doubt, the funniest. It was a joke, right? RIGHT?? I thought, not. You were more than welcome to deplane when you heard I was a “fair lady.” You have that right. Funny, we all, us humans, have the same rights in this great free country of ours. Now, back to my most important role, being a mother.”
Steacy said that just as this man was entitled to expressing his opinion, she too had the right to disagree.
“You were more than welcome to deplane when you heard I was a ‘fair lady,’” Steacy wrote on Facebook, according to CTV. “You have that right. Funny, we all, us humans, have the same rights in this great free country of ours. Now, back to my most important role, being a mother.”
“I have two beautiful children, it is the highest honor,” Steacy told the news channel.
Steacy added that people can be surprised when they hear a female pilot come on the line, but this note was the most “raw” example of that. She said she thinks there are so few women in the field not because they couldn’t get jobs as pilots but because not many are applying to flight school.
According to the Canadian Broadcast Company, WestJet declined to comment on the incident directly but said it has 1,118 male pilots and 58 female pilots on staff.
Steacy said that just as this man was entitled to expressing his opinion, she too had the right to disagree.
“You were more than welcome to deplane when you heard I was a ‘fair lady,’” Steacy wrote on Facebook, according to CTV. “You have that right. Funny, we all, us humans, have the same rights in this great free country of ours. Now, back to my most important role, being a mother.”
“I have two beautiful children, it is the highest honor,” Steacy told the news channel.
Steacy added that people can be surprised when they hear a female pilot come on the line, but this note was the most “raw” example of that. She said she thinks there are so few women in the field not because they couldn’t get jobs as pilots but because not many are applying to flight school.
According to the Canadian Broadcast Company, WestJet declined to comment on the incident directly but said it has 1,118 male pilots and 58 female pilots on staff.
David in 12E needs to believe that if man meant idiots to fly, they would have wings.
ReplyDeleteThere is absolutely no reason for women to NOT be pilots. Nothing about the job is gender specific. It is learned skill and not a natural ability. Today's young woman are being taught that earning $$$ is the most important thing in life, sadly. In the previous centuries, being a wife and mother was deemed the most important thing in life. Both views are too narrow and too gender definite. I am sorry for David's female relatives because they have NO options in life beyond what David grants for them apparently. Three cheers for the sense of humor of Captain Steacy! She is correct..David could have and likely should have deplaned!!