Crisis a chance to fix aviation’s gender imbalance: EU transport chief

The coronavirus crisis is an opportunity to address the “poor” gender imbalance among workers in the air transport industry, according to European commissioner for transport Adina Valean. Speaking at the International Aviation Women’s Association annual conference on Thursday, Valean noted that “gender balance is not an objective in itself”. Rather, she cites research showing that “a lack of diversity in the workplace leads to other problems such as harassment, bullying or depression”, while more-balanced workplaces bring “major benefits to society, the economy, the environment, and the companies themselves, enabling them to perform better”. That is crucial, because “we need, more than ever, as many brilliant minds around the table as possible”, Valean states in reference to the air transport sector’s current predicament. At face value, air transport performs better in terms of gender balance than the wider transport sector, Valean observes, with 40% of employees being women compared with 20% in the wider industry. This, however, “hides differences between occupations”, she explains, highlighting the fact that fewer than 5% of pilots are women. “Stereotypes are tenacious, and have certainly contributed to the imbalance between the number of women working as cabin crew and those working as pilots,” Valean says. “Difficult working conditions, a lack of work-life balance, also play a role. Employers need to create a working environment that welcomes and protects all employees, no matter what their gender is. This will benefit all workers, as well as their employers.”<br/>