// We later learned that sadly only 6% of Southwest pilots are women,

I am not sure that's a "sadly". I used to fly a lot and talk to flight crews. Aviation is a ton of crazy schedules and nights away from home (I assume this is well known)

From a family perspective it's bad enough if dads missing from the house for days at a time, much more catastrophic if mom's not around like that.

(A child's relationship with mom vs. dad is very different. Kids need their mom in a very different way that we can't just paper over)