Airmanship!

[Karatema]

My DH has received a missive asking for alternatives to the word "Airmanship".
I said I'd ask our collective to come up with something funny for him to suggest!

Air/land/sea/man/woman/plane/car/ship

Airmanship isn't a word!

Try "aviation skills"?

Or speaking English?

Apparently Airmanship is a word and is defined as “: the skill or art of flying an aircraft”.

I assume the word “man” is the problem.

Pilot
Qualified pilot
Competent pilot
Flyer
Competent flyer
Flying practitioner
Flying skills
Pilot skills
Aviator (yuk)
as @ZeldaFighter Aviation skills
Aviation practitioner
Flyperson (aka flyboy)
Ace flyer/pilot
Red baron/ess

Probably not very helpful...

As a serious answer...

The RAF has replaced Airman with Aviator. So Aviatorship would follow that pattern.

It's a shit word so I hope you do come up with something better!

Gender stereotyping is bad news for women regardless of whether it is the old fashioned conservative type or the new neo liberal trans ideology type.

and, of course aviatrix ...

I second Aviatorship.
Aviatorship.
Marinership for sailors.

Job done.

what's wrong with sailor? doesn't say man in it...

Interesting to note that NOTAM originally stood for Notice to Airmen and at some point was changed to be Notice to Air Missions.

On that basis, Air Missioners?

From a linguistic pov, what makes Aviator male? I've heard of Aviatrix, but wouldn't see Avitator as male in the same way as a word ending 'men'

Aviators would seem to fit with mariners and soldiers?

I vaguely thought it was Greek. However a 5 second check reveals it's actually French (makes sense - as with cycling they were pioneers).

Which means I was incorrect, and it's "aviatrice" - or as we Brits mangle any foreign word with more than 2 letters "aviatress" ?

Pleased to have cleared that up.

Thanks @SerendipityJane that is interesting. I'm sure I've read of Earheart being called and an Aviatrix.

Thank you for all the suggestions.

Yes, the "man" bit is the problem.

Aviatorship is a reasonable alternative but what's wrong with airmanship?

We have human and mankind and we all recognise that the "man" bit relates to everyone.

Just as a point of interest, those who crew submarines are called submariners, they don't like being called sailors.

Also despite my assumptions, women are actively encouraged as submariners as it's a very difficult environment and not many people can do it so if you can take it, you're in, regardless of sex.

Husband notes female submariners may be called Wrens.

Wren is outdated now. Originally Womens Royal Naval Service (WRNS).

Sailor is acceptable but I see Mariner used more frequently and Seafarer seems to be the most common used descriptor now.

Pilotage

Pilotage already has a meaning: it’s a method of air navigation.

Airmanship means flying with good judgement and in a considerate manner (c.f. Sportsmanship).

Earheart was called an aviatrix because at the time, only men could qualify to be called pilots.

NOTAM got redefined instead of changed: some countries now just define NOTAM as an all-capitals word in its own right, rather than an acronym.

I rather like aviatorship.

Pilotage is also sea navigation - specifically using fixed navigation points to follow a specific navigational path.