The pilot profession has come, well, some way, from the early days when it was exclusively a man's profession. But would you believe that even though the first woman began working as a commercial airline pilot in 1969 (this was Turi Widerøe, who flew for Scandinavian Airline Systems, or SAS), today, only 6% of the global pilot population is female?

Some airlines make a stark example in all the wrong ways. Emirates, Aeroflot, and, perhaps a little surprisingly, Finnair all have an abysmally low percentage of women pilots. The Finnish flag carrier says it is trying to mitigate this with targeted campaigning. However, other carriers, and indeed, countries, have gotten much further along when it comes to closing (or, well, reducing) the gender gap on the flight deck. Let's take a look at who they are, and check out some inspiring moments.

All-female crew moments

For International Women's Day on March 8, many airlines tend to do something like have a flight be piloted entirely by a female crew. Although pilots most often work with different crew members, this is a rare occurrence in daily operations, seeing as the pool is so small. Air Canada, Air Zimbabwe, and even Saudi Arabia's flyadeal have all operated service with all-female flight crews, just to name a few.

One of our favorite all-female moments onboard, however, was the American Airlines flight from Dallas-Fort Worth to Phoenix in August last year, operated by a crew of all Black women in tribute to Bessie Coleman, the first Black woman to earn a pilot's license back in 1921.

And, despite it not being a commercial flight, we cannot help but mention the all-female Superbowl flyover this year to commemorate the 50-year anniversary of when women were allowed to become Navy aviators. But that is a story for another time. Let's take a closer look at the geographics of gender as it relates to flying commercial airplanes.

And the prize goes to...

The country with the most female pilots is India - and not by a little. According to Statista, in 2021, 12.14% of pilots in the South Asian country were women. In second place was Ireland with 9.9% and in third and just behind is South Africa with 9.8%. Then there is a gap down to Australia at 7.5%, Canada at 7%, Germany at 6.9%, the United States at 5.5%, and the UK at a rather measly 4.7%.

According to Bloomberg, Indian airlines are recruiting female pilots through outreach programs and improved corporate policies along with family support, including maternal leave. There are also several subsidies and scholarships available to help pay for the expensive training.

Get the latest aviation news straight to your inbox: Sign up for our newsletters today.

No longer needing to hide

In a country that generally ranks low when it comes to gender equality, the large number of women pilots has been historically supported through an air wing of the National Cadet Corps, formed in 1948, teaching young people to operate ultra-light aircraft.

One of the role models for female pilots in India is Nivedita Bhasin, who, at the age of 26, became the world’s youngest commercial airline captain in 1989. In the early days of her career, the airline would urge her to rush into the cockpit so that passengers would not feel nervous seeing a woman about to fly the plane.

Source: Statista, Bloomberg