Almost 15 years ago when I first started flying I accepted that I had to wear men’s clothing because I had a man’s job. What the hell was I thinking? Man’s job? I don’t even know what defines ‘pilot’ as a man’s job. It is clear however that whoever decided that women would wear this had the same thought pattern.

Ladies, I’ve been checking you out and I’ve got news for you… none of you look good in your boxy shirts, nipple high pants, ties and double breasted jackets. You’re not alone, I look awful too. I cringe every time I look at myself in a mirror. We look like we’re wearing our daddy’s clothing to a costume party.

I think that we too often ignore the pilot uniform issue as it pertains to women. We accept it as a condition of the job; it has never changed, so why would we expect it to? I’ve got 30 years left in my career and I promise that I won’t spend all of it wearing men’s clothing. I would go so far as saying that our uniforms are sexist. I don’t see male flight attendants wearing skirts, why are we not held to a similar standard.

I do realize that having a more feminine version of a pilot’s uniform may increase the number of people confusing us for flight attendants, I think it’s a small price to pay; 80% of people already think we’re flight attendants, what’s another 10%?!

Some airlines have adopted a different uniform for women; namely Air France and TAP. I can’t say that I’m a fan of the Air France uniform but at least it’s made for women.  From what I’ve seen, female pilots in the US are looking generally better than their Canadian counterparts.

I challenge larger Canadian carriers Air Canada, Westjet or Air Transat to be the first airline in Canada to introduce a non-sexist pilot uniform. I say this not only because I’m Canadian, but because Canada really has the most amount of work to do.