Flybe begins ‘Flyshe’ program to bring more women into aviation

Europe’s largest regional airline has begun an initiative to bring more women into aviation, in the same week as the UK’s pilots’ union expressed fears that rising costs increasingly mean that only the wealthy can become flightdeck crew. UK-based Flybe has launched “Flyshe,” a program that hopes to inspire young women to consider a wider variety of career options, such as pilots, engineers or senior managers. Independent research recently conducted for Flybe revealed a gender bias in the roles to which children currently aspire. When thinking about future careers, girls were half as likely as boys to aspire to become an aviation engineer and four times less likely to want to be a pilot. Girls were also almost three times more likely than boys to pursue a career as cabin crew. With the airline industry forecast to double in size by 2035, it is predicted that the sector needs 637,000 new pilots to meet global demand. Attracting talent from the 51% of the population not currently applying for these roles is therefore an urgent commercial necessity, Flybe said.<br/>