Two senior female Qantas pilots this week publicly raised allegations of sexism and harassment – and one has filed a claim against the airline – while working in the cockpit raising the alarm on gender inequality amongst airline staff.
A review of Qantas cabin crew and pilots was conducted by former Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick in 2019, finding more than one quarter of female pilots reported experiences of sexual harassment over the previous 12 months.
Davida Forshaw, who is currently employed by Qantas but is on medical leave, last week filed a sexual harassment suit in the federal court against the airline. In the filing, revealed by The Oz, Forshaw claimed she received a poor performance report after she rejected sexual advances from an airline captain, was instructed to get coffee for her male counterparts while participating in an engineering briefing, and was told she “would do a lot better” if she dyed her hair blonde and wore a push up bra.
The Flight Attendants’ Association of Australia has called for Australia’s major airlines to implement gender quotas for pilots, as “more women up the front would have a positive benefit for cabin crew” and help squash the “trolley dolly” stereotype amongst cabin crew.
Across Qantas Group, 7 per cent of pilots are females. and at QantasLink, the airline’s regional arm, 13.2 per cent of pilots are women.
Source: Qantas doubles down on sexual harassment defence | The Oz