Last night, I attended an event hosted by AWAR (Advancing Women in Aviation Roundtables), where a panel of three senior male leaders in aviation discussed male allyship. It was, in equal measure, frustrating and necessary. Frustrating because in 2025 we’re still having to explain why this matters, and necessary because, clearly, more awareness and action are needed.

One theme stood out: many men want to support women but don’t know how. Too often, the fallback is simply being a ‘nice guy.’ While being nice is welcome, it’s not enough. Allyship requires conscious effort, self-awareness, and action.

Our founder, Trish, has worked in aviation for over 42 years and has been fortunate to have male allies along the way. In my own career, although not always in aviation, I’ve also had incredible male allies who have proactively called out sexist behaviour that I’ve been on the receiving end of, encouraged me when I doubted myself, and advocated for me when I wasn’t in the room. Those men didn’t just offer kindness, they were proactive and they took action, even if it was uncomfortable at the time.

What struck me during the panel was how one panellist seemed convinced he was doing a great job as a male ally. He was comfortable speaking at the event and perhaps even welcomed the publicity, but his responses highlighted the key challenges so many men in the industry face – they cannot see beyond their own biases or personal lived experience. He spoke about not seeing any difference between men and women, that his company was too small to implement many of the initiatives being discussed, and one comment led me to believe he saw caring responsibilities as a women’s issue without considering the male role in this. He seemed unsure about what could be done and what needs to be done. The more he spoke, the more uncomfortable it became to listen. Because while his intentions are right, his actions, and those of many others, are lacking, misinformed, and not proactive enough. And the truth is, because these issues don’t affect them personally, there’s often no sense of urgency. The reality is, for every one man who is genuinely proactive and driving real change, there are a thousand like this person on the panel, well‑meaning, but not moving the needle.

Andrea Wilson, one of the amazing founders of PropelHer, made a brilliant point during the event: it should not be women’s responsibility to educate men on how to behave better. Men must do the work themselves, and I agree with this – however, my (slightly controversial) perspective is this: if we wait for men to figure this out alone or do it themselves, we’ll be waiting a long time. I don’t want to wait and I don’t feel younger generations of women should have to wait either. If we, as women, can help accelerate the process and influence change, even if it means having some difficult conversations, why wouldn’t we? Every ally we inspire to take action can go on to inspire ten more, creating a ripple effect that drives change faster.

The scale of the challenge is clear. According to IATA, women make up just 5% of airline CEOs and less than 10% of licensed pilots worldwide (IATA, 2023). In MRO and technical services, the percentages are even lower. The imbalance is stark, and it will not correct itself without conscious intervention.

So what does real allyship look like?

Here are ten practical ways men can step up and be better allies to women in aviation (and beyond):

1. Challenge all-male panels.Only agree to speak at events if the panel is diverse. Use your influence to make sure women are included – push event organisers to try harder.

2. Reverse mentoring. Seek input from women and underrepresented groups in your organisation. Ask: What could we do better? What’s holding you back? Then act on it.

3. Equal parental leave. Advocate for equal maternity and paternity leave policies. When both men and women take leave, it normalises caring responsibilities and removes career penalties for women.

4. Talk about caring responsibilities – with men. Don’t just assume childcare or eldercare is a woman’s responsibility. Ask men about how they balance family, and normalise the conversation.

5. Amplify women’s voices. If a woman makes a point in a meeting, back her up, if there are no female voices in the room, invite them in. Don’t let women’s ideas be ignored, overlooked or re-attributed.

6. Sponsor, don’t just mentor. Mentoring is guidance. Sponsorship is using your network and influence to create opportunities for women.

7. Call out bias. Don’t leave it to women to challenge sexist jokes, biased hiring decisions, or exclusionary behaviour. Speak up in the moment even if it feels uncomfortable.

8. Measure progress. Push for gender diversity metrics to be tracked, reported, and tied to accountability in leadership, then READ and talk about them and what still needs to be done.

9. Share opportunities fairly. Make sure stretch assignments, international projects, and leadership opportunities are offered to women as much as men.

10. Keep learning. Read, listen, and educate yourself about gender bias. Don’t wait for women to explain it to you, take ownership of your learning.

And to be clear, allyship works. At TGIS we’ve seen male allies amplify women’s contributions in client meetings so their expertise is recognised, and we’ve seen leaders who actively promote women into technical leadership roles despite traditional bias. These actions make a tangible difference.

Allyship isn’t performative, it’s proactive.

It means moving beyond intention and into action, even when it’s uncomfortable. That said, how we challenge behaviours also matters. Many people have good intentions but lack self-awareness and someone to hold up a mirror. If we only criticise without offering solutions, we risk shutting down dialogue instead of opening it up. The only way to drive sustainable change is to highlight issues in an empathetic, constructive way—raising awareness, yes, but always with a solution‑driven approach. If we each inspire just a handful of men to take real action and they each inspire another handful, the ripple effect across aviation will be powerful.

It’s not just the right thing to do either, it’s good for business. McKinsey’s Diversity Wins (2020) report found that companies with greater gender diversity on executive teams are 25% more likely to have above-average profitability.

At TGIS Aviation, we’re not standing on the sidelines, we’re trying to lead by example. I’m writing and speaking openly about these issues because silence only reinforces the status quo. More importantly, we are sponsoring a new online series of monthly webinars focused on how to make aviation a more inclusive place, not just for women, but for anyone from a minority group. These events are easy to join (no travel required) and will feature world-leading speakers sharing practical insights and tools on what to do and how to do it.

So here’s my call to action: if you’re reading this, ask yourself, what will I do differently starting today? Will I challenge a biased comment? Will I use my influence to open doors for someone else? Will I commit to learning more, listening better, and taking action? Or perhaps the simplest next step: join one of our webinars, and bring a colleague with you.

Engines may move aircraft forward, but it’s people that move aviation forward. Let’s make sure we’re all moving it in the right direction, together.

If you’d like to find out more about our new series of online webinars please head to www.tgis.aero or send the team an email at info@tgis.aero

Our next session is all about one of my favourite topics, unconscious bias and will be led by one of my good friends Dr Lynda Shaw who knows a thing or two about Aviation as she worked as a flight attendant before embarking on a PhD and career in Neuroscience. Here are the details