Learn about the types of people who become pilots. This page goes into detail about the employment, gender, and ethnic ratios of the workplace.
Employment Type Mix, 2024
70% of pilots work in full-time roles while 30% work part-time.
Gender Mix By Career Interest, 2024
This graph shows the distribution of females and males that are interested in becoming a pilot. Four or five star ratings on CareerExplorer indicate interest.
More men than women are interested in becoming pilots at a ratio of 4.12 to 1.
Actual Gender Mix, 2024
18% of pilots are female and 82% are male.
Gender Bias, 2024
This is one of the most compelling statistics we collect. Gender bias shows the difference between gender interest in being a pilot and the actual gender mix of people in the career.
If there is a significant difference, then it means there is a gender imbalance between those interested in becoming a pilot and those who end up becoming one.
In this case there are more women interested in becoming a pilot than those actually working as one. It is hard to pinpoint the exact reasons why, but there are likely various forces at play, from changing interests over time to societal norms and biases.
Ethnic Mix, 2019
The largest ethnic group of pilots are White, making up 63% of the population. The next highest segments are Other and East Asian, making up 10% and 8% respectively.