Girl pupils are being actively encouraged to have their head in the clouds in a new initiative which challenges gender stereotyping of jobs.
A new Virtual Pilot School Visits programme is being launched by easyJet to mark this International Women’s Day, March 8, and encourage girls to spread their wings.
It invites schools and parents across the UK to book an online visit with one of the airline's female pilots who will explain to the children what it takes to enter the job.
The project is part of easyJet's Amy Johnson Initiative - named after the pioneering British aviator - which aims to address gender imbalance in the industry.
It encourages girls to think about a career as an airline pilot and comes in response to its survey that revealed children's job ideas have not moved on in a generation and are still based upon gender divide, affecting aspirations and being a cause of concern for parents.
More than 50% of children believed that career choices are restricted by traditional male and female jobs.
Through the new programme of visits, pilots will join classrooms and assemblies via video link to talk about their work and to show theirs is a job for everyone, despite the fact that 95% of pilots worldwide are male.
Since launching its Amy Johnson Initiative in 2015, easyJet has more than doubled its number of female pilots to more than 260. It also sponsors an Aviation Badge for Brownies.
Johan Lundgren, easyJet chief executive officer, said that the pandemic is having a short-term impact upon pilot recruitment - until the industry recovers - but added: "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."
And easyJet pilot Captain Iris de Kan said: “It’s important that girls have visible role models so we can challenge gendered biases of jobs and show that being a pilot can be for anyone with the motivation and passion to do it."
To request an easyJet Pilot Virtual School Visits conact pilotvisits@easyJet.com.
