An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who actively and directly operates the directional flight controls of an aircraft while it is in flight. While other members of a flight crew such as flight engineer, navigator, or any other person involved in the direct flight operations of an aircraft (whether it be a fixed wing airplane, rotary-wing, powered, or unpowered), are also considered "aviators", they are not pilots and do not command a flight or aircraft. Aircrew who are not involved in operating the aircraft's flight systems (such as cabin attendants and mechanics) as well as ground crew are not generally classified as aviators.

In recognition of the pilots' qualifications and responsibilities, most militaries and many airlines worldwide award aviator badges to their pilots, as well as other air crews. This includes naval aviators.

History[edit]

The first recorded use of the term aviator (aviateur in French) was in 1887, as a variation of "aviation", from the Latin avis (meaning bird), coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne ("Aviation or Air Navigation"). The term aviatrix (aviatrice in French), now archaic, was formerly used for a female aviator. These terms were used more in the early days of aviation, when airplanes were extremely rare, and connoted bravery and adventure. For example, a 1905 reference work described the Wright brothers' first airplane: "The weight, including the body of the aviator, is a little more than 700 pounds".^[1]

To ensure the safety of people in the air and on the ground, early aviation soon required that aircraft be under the operational control of a properly trained, certified pilot at all times, who is responsible for the safe and legal completion of the flight. The Aéro-Club de France delivered the first certificate to Louis Blériot in 1908—followed by Glenn Curtiss, Léon Delagrange, and Robert Esnault-Pelterie. The absolute authority given to the "pilot in command" derives from that of a ship's captain.^{[citation needed]}

Civilian[edit]

Civilian pilots fly aircraft of all types privately for pleasure, charity, or in pursuance of a business, and/or commercially for non-scheduled (charter) and scheduled passenger and cargo air carriers (airlines), corporate aviation, agriculture (crop dusting, etc.), forest fire control, law enforcement, etc. When flying for an airline, pilots are usually referred to as airline pilots, with the pilot in command often referred to as the captain.

United States[edit]

In 1930, the Air Commerce Act established pilot licensing requirements for American civil aviation.

Commercial airline pilots in the United States have a mandatory retirement age of 65, having increased from age 60 in 2007.^[2]

Canada[edit]

Pilots licensing in Canada is similar to the United States.

The Aeronautics Act of 1985 and Canadian Aviation Regulations provide rules for pilots in Canada.

Retirement age is provided by each airline with some set to age 60, but changes to the Canadian Human Rights Act have restricted retirement age set by the airlines.^[3]

Outside North America[edit]

In some countries, such as Pakistan,Thailand and several African nations, there is a strong relationship between the military and the principal national airlines, and many airline pilots come from the military; however, that is no longer the case in the United States and Western Europe.^{[citation needed]} While the flight decks of U.S. and European airliners do have ex-military pilots, many pilots are civilians. Military training and flying, while rigorous, is fundamentally different in many ways from civilian piloting.

Military[edit]

Military pilots fly with the armed forces of a government or nation-state. Their tasks involve combat and non-combat operations, including direct hostile engagements and support operations. Military pilots undergo specialized training, often with weapons. Examples of military pilots include fighter pilots, bomber pilots, transport pilots, test pilots and astronauts. Military pilots also serve as flight crews on aircraft for government personnel, such as Air Force One and Air Force Two in the United States.

Military pilots are trained with a different syllabus than civilian pilots, which is delivered by military instructors. This is due to the different aircraft, flight goals, flight situations and chains of responsibility. Many military pilots do transfer to civilian-pilot qualification after they leave the military, and typically their military experience provides the basis for a civilian pilot's license.

Unmanned aerial vehicles[edit]

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, also known as "drones") operate without a pilot on-board and are classed into two categories: autonomous aircraft that operate without active human control during flight and remotely piloted UAVs which are operated remotely by one or more persons. The person controlling a remotely piloted UAV may be referred to as its pilot or operator. Depending on the sophistication and use of the UAV, pilots/operators of UAVs may require certification or training, but are generally not subject to the licensing/certification requirements of pilots of manned aircraft.

Most jurisdictions have restrictions on the use of UAVs which have greatly limited their use in controlled airspace; UAVs have mostly been limited to military and hobbyist use. In the United States, use of UAVs is very limited in controlled airspace (generally, above 400 ft/122m and away from airports) and the FAA prohibits nearly all commercial use. Once regulations are made to allow expanded use of UAVs in controlled airspace, there is expected to be a large surge of UAVs in use and, consequently, high demand for pilots/operators of these aircraft.^[4]

Space[edit]

The general concept of an airplane pilot can be applied to human spaceflight, as well. The spacecraft pilot is the astronaut who directly controls the operation of a spacecraft, while located within that same craft (not remotely). This term derives directly from the usage of the word "pilot" in aviation, where it is synonymous with "aviator". Note that on the U.S. Space Shuttle, the term "pilot" is analogous to the term "co-pilot" in aviation, as the "commander" has ultimate responsibility for the shuttle.

Pilot certifications[edit]

Pilots are required to go through many hours of flight training and theoretical study, that differ depending on the country. The first step is acquiring the Private Pilot License (PPL), or Private Pilot Certificate. This takes at least 40 hours of flight time with a Certified Flight Instructor (CFI).

The next step in a pilot's progression is either Instrument Rating (IR), or Multi-Engine Rating (MEP) endorsements.

If a professional career or professional-level skills are desired, a Commercial Pilot License (CPL) endorsement would also be required. To captain an airliner, one must obtain an Airline Transport Pilot License (ATPL). Now, even when being a First Officer (FO), an ATP is required.^[5]

Some countries/carriers require/use a Multi Crew Coordination (MCC).

Female aviators[edit]

Pioneers[edit]

Pioneer women aviators (also called "aviatrix") include French, Raymonde de Laroche, the world's first licensed female pilot on March 8, 1910; Belgian, Hélène Dutrieu, the first woman to fly a passenger, first woman to win an air race (1910), and first woman to pilot a seaplane (1912); French, Marie Marvingt the first woman to fly solo across the English Channel and the North Sea in a balloon (October 26, 1909) and first woman to fly as a bomber pilot in combat missions (1915); New Zealander Jean Batten was the first person to fly from England to New Zealand, Russian, Eugenie Shakhovskaya was the first female military pilot; American, Harriet Quimby, the USA's first licensed female pilot in 1911, and the first woman to cross the English Channel by airplane; American Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic (1932); Bessie Coleman, the first African American female to become a licensed airplane pilot (1921); German, Marga von Etzdorf, first woman to fly for an airline (1927).

Opal Kunz, one of the few women to train US Navy fighter pilots during World War II in the Civilian Pilot Training Program; Edith Maud Cook, who made numerous parachute jumps from balloons, learned to fly in France and was possibly the first British woman to do so. Hilda Hewlett opened a flying school with her aviator husband and was the first woman to gain a RAeC certificate. Amy Johnson, the first woman to fly solo from Britain to Australia (1930). Valérie André, a French neurosurgeon and member of the French army, became the first woman to fly a helicopter in combat, while serving in Indochina (1945). Jean Batten, a New Zealander, made a number of record-breaking solo flights across the world, including, in 1936, the first-ever solo flight from England to New Zealand.

Katherine Cheung was a notable Asian-American female pilot in the 1930s.

As well as being Turkey's first female pilot, Sabiha Gökçen, born in 1913, became the world's first female fighter pilot at the age of 23.^[6][7]

In 1979, a Jamaican, Maria Ziadie-Haddad, became one of the first women in the Western Hemisphere to become a commercial jet airline pilot when she was hired by Air Jamaica as a Boeing 727 second officer.^[8]

Barbara Harmer was the first qualified female Concorde pilot in 1993.

Louise Sacchi (1913–1997) was the first international woman ferry pilot who flew planes across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans over 340 times, more than any other non-airline pilot.^[9] In 1971 she set a speed record by flying a single-engine land plane from New York to London in 17 hours and 10 minutes, a record that still stands today.^{[9][10][11][12]} Sacchi was the first woman to win the Godfrey L. Cabot Award for distinguished service to aviation.^[9][13][14]

Soviet Union[edit]

The Night Witches, a women-only combat regiment of the Soviet Air Forces, flew harassment bombing and precision bombing missions from 1942 to the end of the World War II.

Pakistan[edit]

Ms Shukrya Khanum became a pioneer by receiving her Commercial Licence in 60s closely followed by Ms Maliha Sami and Ms Aysha, they were both inducted by PIA as commercial flyers. Capt Natasha Sami who is the fourth female pilot in the history of Pakistan, then moved on to become the first female to have received the Airline Transport Pilot's Licence in the country's history. Pakistani pilot Ayesha Farooq was the first female fighter pilot for the Pakistani airforce. At least 19 women became pilots in the air force in the decade from 2003.^[15]

Canada[edit]

First licensed pilot in Canada was Eileen Vollick in 1928.^[16]

Molly Reilly was the first Canadian woman to become a civilian pilot (1959) and Rosella Bjornson was the first commercial airline pilot (1970s).^[16]

In 1989 Deanne Brasseur and Jane Foster are the first women to fly military aircraft in Canada.^[16]

China[edit]

China has trained more than 500 female pilots since 1951. Large numbers have been trained to fly China's most advanced combat jets, including the J-10.^[17]

United States[edit]

Until the 1970s, aviation had been a traditionally male occupation in the United States. Commerce Department regulations virtually required pilots to have flown in the military to acquire sufficient flight hours, and until the 1970s, the U.S. Air Force and Navy barred women from flying,^[18] thus also preventing them from moving into commercial piloting.^{[citation needed]} Despite women being trained by the U.S. Army Air Forces and flying every advanced military aircraft the U.S. built during World War II (including every bomber, pursuit plane, and the first jet) as Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), this program was disbanded in December 1944. At that time, commercial jobs were not generally available to women, though these highly trained women flew as instructors and pilots for flying services throughout the United States. Women eventually began to enter U.S. major commercial aviation in the 1970s and 1980s, with 1973 seeing the first female pilot at a major U.S. airline, American Airlines, and 1986 seeing the first female captain at a major U.S. airline.^[19] In the 1970s, women were again, for the first time since WWII, permitted to fly in the United States Armed Forces, beginning with the Navy and the Army in 1974, and then the Air Force in 1976.^[20]

As of 2010, just over 7% of certified civilian pilots (both private and commercial) in the United States were women.^[21] As of July 2014, approximately 5.12% of certified airline or commercial pilots in the United States are women.^[22]

India[edit]

Sarla Thakral was first Indian woman to fly. Born in 1914, she earned an aviation pilot license in 1936 at the age of 21 and flew a Gypsy Moth solo. She had a four-year-old daughter. After obtaining the initial licence, she persevered on and completed one thousand hours of flying in the aircraft owned by the Lahore Flying Club. Her husband P. D. Sharma whom she married at 16 and comes from a family which had 9 pilots encouraged her to achieve it. .^{[23] [24]}

Flight Lt. Harita Kaur Deol (1972 - December 25, 1996) was a pilot with the Indian Air Force. She was the first woman pilot to fly solo in the Indian Air Force. The flight was on 2 September 1994 in an Avro HS-748, when she was 22 years old.^[25][26]

Nivedita Bhasin (born 1963) of Indian Airlines became the youngest woman pilot in world civil aviation history to command a commercial jet aircraft on 1 January 1990 at the age of 26. Capt Nivedita Bhasin piloted IC-492 on the Bombay-Aurangabad-Udaipur sector.^[27]

Japan[edit]

In Japan, the first female captain for commercial passenger flights was Ari Fuji, who began flying as captain for JAL Express in July 2010.^[28] Fuji was rejected from admission to Japanese pilot training school on the grounds of being too small (155 cm (5 ft and 1 inch); standard was previously 163 cm (5 ft and 4 inches), currently 158 cm (5 ft and 2.2 inches) as of spring 2010), so she got her pilot's license in the United States. There are currently a few other female pilots in Japan, though, as of 2010^[update], no others in a captain role.

Saudi Arabia[edit]

Hanadi Zakaria al-Hindi is the first Saudi woman to become a commercial airline pilot.^[29][30]

See also[edit]

Book: Aviation

• Aircrew (flight crew)
• Airline pilot uniforms
• Air safety
• IMSAFE (mnemonic for pilot's fitness to fly)
• List of aerospace engineers
• List of aviators
• List of Russian aviators
• Women of Aviation Worldwide Week, an international celebration of all women of aviation

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Media related to Aviators at Wikimedia Commons

• U.S. Women Pilots Statistics 1960–2010

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