Female pilot gets mistaken for flight attendant by airport employee

Eyerolls at the ready, people: a pilot has taken to social media to express her frustration after a colleague mistook her for a flight attendant.

TikToker @sabrinaleej’s video drummed up almost two million views, and in it, the 22-year-old can be seen sitting in a plane’s cockpit wearing her pilot uniform with a bemused look on her face.

Sabrina explained that a gate agent had presumed she was a cabin crew member and added that people make similar presumptions all the time when they see her in the airport.

Check out her video below:

Across her video, Sabrina wrote: “Gate agent looked me in the eye today, asked if I was the flight attendant. (Common occurrence).”

She added the caption: “It’s jarring to me because they work at an airport. You know what the pilot uniforms are.”

People were quick to throw their support behind Sabrina in the comment section, with one person writing: “This is unacceptable!”

Another added: “As a flight attendant, I’m offended for you. Unacceptable. They KNOW our uniforms,” while a third commented: “Ask if they’ve been drinking on the job.”

@sabrinaleej/TikTok

Others told Sabrina they’d experienced similar sexism at their own place of work, with one person penning: “Happens to me all the time.”

“I'm a software engineer and the amount of times men will assume I am a designer,” commented someone else, with another person echoing: “It happens ALL the time. I've been at the gate with some of my female pilot friends and witnessed it.”

After Sabrina’s clip racked up hundreds of thousands of views, she posted a follow-up video emphasising that being mistaken for a flight attendant wasn’t the issue at hand.

Sabrina clarified in a second video: “Being called a flight attendant is not an insult.

“It’s an insult when it’s used to try to put me down after all my hard work. When you do that, you are insulting both me and flight attendants.”

@sabrinaleej/TikTok

Social media users were quick to commend Sabrina’s post, with one person writing: “YES! Pilot training and flight attendant training are very different but BOTH very valid and impressive. Keep killin’ it girl!”

Another TikToker added: “As a flight attendant currently going through flight training, thanks for saying this. We have different jobs, but BOTH matter so much. We’re a team.”

“Yes THIS. As a former FA and current pilot this is what needs to be said,” commented another person.

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