Conservatives angry at Airline CEO focusing on DEI policies implying “too many” White men in industr

[EastwoodS]

As a pilot, there is a very basic reason I can tell you as to why most pilots are white and men. A.) This is considered a very macho profession. It was one of the first "dare devil" sports, if you will. Many airline pilots in the 1950s and 1960s came straight out of World War Two, and it was largely a requirement for airline pilots to have served and to be mentally fit and "top tier".. quite frankly it still is a strong requirement by FAA standards. So already, you can see that throughout the 20th century, there was this unspoken rule that you had to be a former Air Force pilot to work in the airlines. That requirement alone was a show stopper for women until the 1990s. The airline industry is also one of the most cutthroat and easily  in the top five most stressful jobs there is, so say what you will, but a lot of women- and even men for that matter;  probably wouldn't like the lack of emotional support that comes from being a pilot; it is a 'dog eat dog' profession where you have to be stoic, even when things don't go to plan. That being said, the women I do know that are pilots are some of the best in the whole profession- granted, most of them are very masculine in their energy.
Now, on the part Race: You need 1500 hours to be an airline pilot if you go to your standard "mom and pop" flight school (I only needed 1,000 hours cause I go to a university). There are several licenses a pilot has to obtain to even come close to being considered an applicant to the airlines. On top of spending 100k on your required licensing, you must have a clean criminal history (the FAA doesn't even like to see motor vehicle speeding tickets on your record. NO DUIs, Absolutely no drug convictions of any kind), be able to pass an FAA first class medical exam every year, and you must be a good test taker. With all of this, you still only get about 200-300 (remember you need 1500 hours for most pilots) hours after CFI training. The reason the profession is mostly white or Asian is because if you look at income demographics, these groups tend to have the most expendable income to afford this very expensive and time consuming process.