EasyJet aims for one in five pilots to be female by 2020

EasyJet has doubled the number of its entry-level female pilots in a year and set a “more stretching” goal for 2020 following a targeted recruitment drive. The airline is aiming for 20% of new pilot cadets to be female by 2020. It said it would need to recruit about 50 female pilots a year to achieve the target. EasyJet has increased the number of its female new-entrant pilots from 6 to 12% since it launched the “Amy Johnson Flying Initiative” in October 2015. The initiative prompted more than 600 applications, from which the company hired 33 female pilots to reach its target, it said. Women are under-represented across the commercial airline sector: 3% of pilots worldwide are women, while the number of female captains totals just 450. British Airways has also made a push to recruit more female pilots after a 2015 survey found would-be applicants were discouraged because of gender stereotyping. EasyJet employs 164 female pilots, of whom 62 are captains, which is about 14% of the world’s total of female captains.<br/>