The Sexist Note a Male Passenger Left for a Female Pilot

"The cockpit of an airline is no place for a woman."

That's what was scrawled on a cocktail napkin to a Canadian airline pilot earlier this week.

"A woman being a mother is the most honor, not as 'captain.' Proverbs 31. Sorry not PC," the garbled note directed to WestJet Capt. Carey Smith Steacy said. "We're short mothers, not pilots WestJet."

Image source: Imgur

"P.S. I wish WestJet could tell me a fair lady is at the helm so I can book another flight!"

The man signed the napkin on the back, “Respectfully in love, David" and also that he was "not impressed."

Image source: Imgur

Steacy posted a picture of the note and her response on Facebook.

"I respectfully disagree with your opinion that the 'cockpit,' (we now call it the flight deck as no c**ks are required), is no place for a lady. In fact, there are no places that are not for ladies anymore," she said.

WestJet Captain Carey Smith Steacy said she was surprised by the napkin note. (Image source: CTV Vancouver)

Steacy told CTV Vancouver the note, which was found on the plane Sunday, "made me feel sad."

“I can’t believe that [there are] people that still think that way," she added.

Steacy said that just as this man was entitled to expressing his opinion, she too had the right to disagree.

"You were more than welcome to deplane when you heard I was a 'fair lady,'" Steacy wrote on Facebook, according to CTV. "You have that right. Funny, we all, us humans, have the same rights in this great free country of ours. Now, back to my most important role, being a mother."

“I have two beautiful children, it is the highest honor," Steacy told the news channel.

Steacy added that people can be surprised when they hear a female pilot come on the line, but this note was the most "raw" example of that. She said she thinks there are so few women in the field not because they couldn't get jobs as pilots but because not many are applying to flight school.

According to the Canadian Broadcast Company, WestJet declined to comment on the incident directly but said it has 1,118 male pilots and 58 female pilots on staff.

Watch CBC's report about the note:

"We have captains and first officers among our female pilots and always have since we launched in 1996," the airline told CBC.

The "not PC" note is particularly timely given that it's "Women of Aviation Week" in Canada, sponsored by Institute for Women Of Aviation Worldwide.

(H/T: Daily Mail)