By Capt. Menaka Fernando
“How does the aviation industry in Sri Lanka handle this issue?”
“How are gay pilots treated by their colleagues?”

These were two questions that were raised at a Christmas party organised last month by a gay airline crew group in Dubai. Needless to say, some of my best friends are gay. However, ours is not a gay-friendly environment and most of our gay pilots usually keep a very low profile when at home base.

Although this situation can vary from country to country, in Sri Lanka and other South Asian airlines in general, there is always that unwritten ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy. Having said that, due commendation must be given to the airline fraternity in Sri Lanka, which has never subjected a gay crew member to a hostile anti-gay environment.

In comparison to some Western airlines (‘Atlanta bias panel rules against gay pilots’ by Andrew Keegan), hardly anybody in our local aviation industry maintains an anti-gay sentiment that motivates discriminatory treatment.

Twenty years ago, the standard image of an airline captain was the silver-haired, middle-aged pilot, possibly married to a good ‘home-maker’ wife with an average of two children who would probably be in college or university; the conventional sterotype airline pilot. This was also the era of the ‘macho’ pilot, where testosterone generally ruled.

Although some studies show homosexual and bisexual men to have more testosterone (on average) than heterosexual men, I honestly have no idea whether or not higher testosterone levels help someone to pilot an airplane. Thus, it is not the author’s intention to perpetuate false stereotypes by correlating testosterone levels with sexuality. What is obvious, however, is the increase in the number of gay flight crew of both sexes.

“I really can’t see why it should be an issue. Being gay means you are attracted to the same sex. What on earth does that have to do with flying?” asked one gay female pilot. “I don’t care if my fellow crewmember is gay. All I care about is whether he or she can fly.” That is the prevailing view of many airline crews in the industry.

Earlier in my career as an aviation lecturer and manager of a flying training school, I had several student pilots who were openly gay. No one seemed to have a problem with them at the flight school.

One gay student pilot broke away from his long-time partner, married a ground hostess and is now the father of two children. Today he is a captain of a reputed airline. His friends and family always ask him whether he faces discrimination, but according to him, once inside the flight deck, nothing really matters to fellow pilots other than your ability and skill.

Another pilot confessed, “At times I feel an intense urge to be accepted… This feeling often gets out of proportion and becomes counterproductive when carrying out my duties in the flight deck.”

Fortunately in Sri Lanka, pilot promotions are based on a seniority system and a person’s sexual preference or marital status does not affect their promotion.

So is there is a flipside to being a gay pilot? Not really. In some airlines in the West, virtually all the male flight attendants, male check-in agents and ground handling agents are supposed to be gay. So why not pilots?

Either way, the image of the future airline pilot is changing fast with more women in the flight deck as opposed to the silver-haired gentleman of yesteryear. Moreover, out of the younger generation males, a higher number of gay men are taking to the air than ever before. Some even predict that the entire airline industry will be gay in another 50 years!

In my view, gay and lesbian pilots are a unique lot. They are extremely talented, creative, intelligent and a pleasure to have around. They have their own international network too, known as the National Gay Pilots’ Association, which is a very active organisation (http://www.ngpa.org ).

One can be homophobic, but at the end of the day, what matters most is whether a pilot, gay or straight, can handle an aircraft worth millions of dollars,with many lives on board.

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