Low-cost airline easyJet has started virtual school visits as part of its initiative to encourage more girls to become an airline pilot.
Teachers, schools and parents can request a virtual visit from an easyJet pilot, who will join classrooms and assemblies via video link, providing young people across the UK with the opportunity to find out what the job of a pilot is really like.
Importantly, with many of the airline’s female pilots fronting the programme, the scheme highlights it’s a job for everyone. The airline has launched its virtual school visits on International Women’s Day, with this year’s theme #ChoosetoChallenge highlighting the importance of calling out gender bias.
Recent research conducted by easyJet showed that around half of British children (51 per cent) still believed their career choices were biased towards traditional male and female jobs, suggesting that gender stereotypes are still having an impact on children’s career aspirations and that the work to challenge this starts in schools.
The study of 2,000 British parents and children aged six to 16 was commissioned by the airline before the pandemic, as part of its Amy Johnson Initiative to champion female pilots of the future. Around 95 per cent of pilots worldwide are male.
The airline launched its Amy Johnson Initiative in 2015, named after the pioneering British aviator, to help redress the industry’s gender imbalance in the pilot community.
Alongside pilot visits to schools, youth and aeronautical organisations, the airline has also worked with pilot training partners to offer scholarships and run media awareness campaigns.
As a result, easyJet has more than doubled the number of female pilots to more than 260.
Johan Lundgren, chief executive of easyJet, said: "Improving the gender balance in the pilot community has been a real focus for easyJet and we believe that no other airline has been doing more on this issue.
"We have been encouraged by our work through our Amy Johnson initiative so far which has driven tangible results in more than doubling the female pilots now flying for us.
“However, the pandemic has impacted pilot recruitment in the short-term until the industry recovers as this means we will not be recruiting in the same numbers as we were pre-pandemic for some time.
"That’s why we are focusing now on making the pipeline of future aviation talent more diverse continuing to lead the way in challenging gendered stereotypes of the career by providing support, information and role models for young women and girls."
easyJet Pilot Virtual School Visits can now be requested by contacting pilotvisits@easyJet.com.
