A second edition of Lift Off To Leadership, produced by Oliver Wyman in collaboration with the International Aerospace Womens Association (IAWA), examines how women advance into leadership roles across aviation and aerospace. Based on a 2025 survey of approximately 250 leaders worldwide and follow-up interviews, the study looks beyond pilot careers to include executives and managers at airlines, aircraft and engine manufacturers, maintenance and overhaul providers, leasing companies and airports.
Perception Gaps In Career Progression
According to the report, women and men differ in how they view opportunity within their organizations. Twice as many women as men surveyed believe their company places little or no priority on increasing women’s representation in leadership positions. While women and men reported similar ambitions to reach senior roles, women were more likely to say they expect advancement opportunities to be limited, with 40% citing implicit bias as a factor.
The study also found that women were more likely to report taking longer than expected to reach leadership positions. Nearly half of the women surveyed said they had considered leaving the industry at some point during their careers.
Workplace Experience And Sponsorship
The report examines daily workplace experience as part of career progression. Thirty-eight percent of women surveyed said they had been described as “too aggressive” during their careers, compared with 15% of men. Women were also more likely to report that their contributions were overlooked or attributed to others.
Flexible and remote work options ranked higher in importance in the 2025 survey than in the 2021 edition for both women and men. The study also identifies sponsorship as a factor in advancement. Sixty-eight percent of women surveyed said sponsorship — defined as active advocacy by senior leaders — was vital to career progression, while about one-quarter of respondents reported currently serving as a sponsor.
Although the study goes beyond pilot roles in aerospace, federal workforce data provides additional context. The FAA’s 2024 Civil Airmen Statistics report shows that about 5.5% of Airline Transport Pilot certificate holders are women, while the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data from 2024 indicate that 9.6% of those employed as pilots are women.
Earlier this month, the FAA announced that U.S. airlines must certify pilot hiring is merit-based apart from any programs to hire members of any particular demographic, under a new operations specification. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement at the time that, “The American people don’t care what their pilot looks like or their gender—they just care that they are most qualified man or woman for the job.”
