Aerospace

Women flying forward in aviation thanks to industry initiatives

Posted 16 March 2016

Since the launch of its CTC WINGS programme in 2003, global airline training and resourcing company CTC Aviation has trained and placed around 100 women as co-pilots with their Airline Partners around the world.

Currently around 6% of CTC Aviation’s trainee pilots are women. Although this is above the world average (5%), CTC Aviation believes this is not good enough. They are determined to see that number rise and have been working actively to encourage more women to take an interest.

Already, CTC Aviation is reporting an increased level of interest. At the end of last year, the company saw over triple the number of women graduating through their CTC WINGS airline pilot career programmes compared to the class of 2014. Of the 19 women who completed their training in 2015, 18 are already launching exciting flying careers with CTC Aviation’s Airline Partners.

“We are beginning to see more women wanting to pursue an airline pilot career and our recent placement activity is truly reflecting this” commented Carla Grist, Head of Airline Resourcing for CTC Aviation – “Not only have a significant number of women secured places on some of our most competitive Airline Partner programmes for British Airways, easyJet, Flybe, Qatar Airways, and Virgin Atlantic; but also half of our graduates selected to start their type ratings for Monarch since September 2015, are women.”

EasyJet
Just last month, easyJet – CTC Aviation’s longest standing Airline Partner – launched an initiative to help encourage more women to train for a career as a commercial airline pilot. The easyJet Amy Johnson Flying Initiative, in partnership with the British Women Pilots Association, is one of the first parts of a long term strategy to increase female pilots with six female, new entrant pilots having their training loan of around £100,000 underwritten by easyJet. Currently women make up six per cent of easyJet’s new pilot intake and the airline plans to double this to 12% over the next two years.

At the launch, Brian Tyrrell, easyJet’s Head of Flight Operations commented: “At easyJet we are committed to encouraging more women to consider a career as a pilot and the easyJet Amy Johnson Flying Initiative is one important way of enabling some women, who may not have been able to consider it before, to undertake training and start what is a very rewarding career for life.”

British Airways
Brigette Atkins, Emma Jupp, Kathleen Gold and Hannah Vaughn all graduated in December 2015 from the CTC WINGS in partnership with British Airways Future Pilot Programme. The pilots also appeared in a national television campaign last year to represent British Airways and support their campaign to make becoming an airline pilot a more visibly accessible career choice to the next generations of women.

British Airways First Officer Brigette Atkins, said: “It has been an incredible journey so far, with some unforgettable experiences: During my training, I navigated solo flights around New Zealand, trained on both CTC Aviation’s and the airline’s full-motion multi-million pound flight simulators and have now flown my first commercial flight to Rome.

“As a British Airways A320 First Officer I will be flying our customers to a wide range of destinations throughout Europe and the Middle East.

“It has been hard work but I feel extremely privileged to be in this position. I would definitely recommend the British Airways Future Pilot Programme to anyone – male or female. It’s a route into an amazing career.”

Global requirement
The latest industry reports by jet manufacturer Boeing estimate that, by 2034, the airline industry needs to find 558,000 new pilots to crew the number of aircraft on their order books. Airbus has also identified a similar skills-gap caused by passenger aircraft fleets doubling in size.

Anthony Petteford, Chief Commercial Officer for CTC Aviation, says that the wider industry must take responsibility to help inspire more women to follow in the footsteps of current CTC Aviation trainees and graduate pilots: “With the airline industry continuing to forecast a worldwide shortage of pilots, the skills of female pilots may well be the key to filling the void. More than half the world’s population is female – it’s time that was reflected on our flight decks. We’d love to see more women bring their valuable skills to the profession. There has never been a better opportunity for women to enter the aviation industry. Even though we are starting to see an increase through our programmes, the number doesn’t nearly reflect the ability of women.”

Emma-Jane Lacy, who trained as a pilot with CTC Aviation and now works for the company as a Flight Instructor, said: “Gender doesn’t determine someone’s ability to work as a pilot. If you’re willing to put the hard work in, you’ll get results regardless of whether you are male or female. In fact, many of the women I have taught during my time as an instructor seem to have natural situational awareness. They can build an excellent mental picture of their surroundings, which is vital to flight safety.”

Mr Petteford added: “The airline industry is attractive, with a high chance of job placement upon qualification, good long-term salary prospects, the opportunity to work with hi-tech systems, and a generally desirable job. I actively encourage any women considering a career in flying to apply to an airline pilot career programme.”

British Women Pilots Association
A team of airline pilot careers advisers from CTC Aviation visit schools, colleges and university careers fairs throughout the year to encourage both young women and men to consider a career in aviation, and to understand that there are no barriers to entry to the profession to those who possess the talent to become an airline pilot.

CTC Aviation holds free airline pilot careers events for aspiring pilots and their families at its Crew Training Centres – Southampton (UK – monthly) and Hamilton (NZ, bi-annually). In honour of ‘Girls in Aviation Day’, the organisation’s October 2015 UK event featured a talk from Pauline Vahey, Chair of the British Women Pilots Association.

Ms. Vahey commented: “If the airline industry is to continue to grow sustainably then it has to recruit the best talent so cannot afford to just ignore 50% of the population. It is up to the industry to make itself more attractive to women.”

Registrations are now open for the next CTC Aviation airline pilot career event – 27 February 2016 at the company’s Crew Training Centre - Southampton (UK), featuring special airline guest speakers from Flybe. The company’s April careers event will feature speakers from easyJet, including a number of easyJet’s female pilots.