BA's Aviation Academy welcomes 32,500 children in first six months
Above: Preparing for KidZania.
Some 10,352 children have ‘trained’ to be cabin crew, while a whopping 22,642 have tried their hand at being a pilot.
Proportionately, there’s still a gender split though, with around twice as many boys as girls (14,765 vs 7,877) choosing the pilot training option.
British Airways' director of flight operations, Captain Stephen Riley, said: "It's a great time to be a British Airways pilot and we're extremely proud that we have more female pilots than ever before.
“But there’s still more to be done to encourage more women to consider a career as a pilot. Our Aviation Academy at KidZania is a great way to inspire the next generation – girls and boys.
“What’s important is that young people who are interested in flying as a career understand that there are opportunities to become a commercial pilot, such as our Future Pilot Programme. Our scheme is open to anyone aged 18 to 55, with no prior flying experience required and we have put in place special measures so that the expense normally associated with learning to fly is not a barrier.
“The skills we’re looking for – a combination of the right technical ability and great communication and customer service skills – aren’t gender specific, so we’d urge anyone who is interested in being a pilot to apply.”
While British Airways has more female pilots than any other UK airline, women are still under represented in the profession with reports of just five per cent of commercial pilots worldwide being female.
In a British Airways survey, the airline found that 63 per cent of women said they were put off a career as a professional airline pilot when they were growing up for reasons including a lack of visible role models and being told it was a man’s job.
To help address the issue, the airline is planning to introduce girls who are considering which GCSEs to take, to female pilots already working for British Airways at KidZania London on International Women’s Day on March 8.
The airline plans to recruit more than 350 pilots and 1,600 cabin crew this year. Collectively, the recruitment drive will increase the number of British Airways flying crew to more than 20,000 for the first time in its near 100 year history.
The airline is currently recruiting cabin crew to fly from Heathrow Airport and Gatwick Airport and the Future Pilot Programme will be open to applications later this year. Interested applicants can apply at ba.com/careers
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