The key points
- Walsh’s advice
- Target 50% women pilots
- The Easyjet plan to reach 20%
At least half of the plane pilots could be women. This is the wish of Willie Walsh, the manager and former Irish pilot who since the beginning of the month has been general manager of Iata, the world air transport association, which is a member of about 290 companies, representing 82% of global air traffic. .
Walsh’s advice
In his first public outing since taking over from Geneva, Walsh said: «I don’t think having been a driver of mine gives any particular advantages in this role. It probably makes me more focused on making decisions. I entered this industry 41-42 years ago. There was talk of a shortage of pilots, an excess of pilots. These are all speeches that we have overcome. What I feel like saying is to advise girls and young women to consider a future career as a pilot ».
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Target 50% women pilots
“We need to attract competent people. The industry will overcome the crisis caused by Covid, it will take some time, but we will return to the traffic levels we had reached in 2019. Having a mix of 50% male and 50% female drivers is something the industry is about. it has to work, ”Walsh said.
Walsh’s career
The manager, born in Dublin in 1961, began working at the Aer Lingus company as a cadet pilot in 1979. He was CEO of the same company from 2001 to 2005, then of British Airways from 2005 to 2011. He was then the head of Iag, the holding company created with the corporate combination of British Airways and Iberia, controlled by Iag, which today also includes Aer Lingus and Vueling. Walsh was its CEO until September 2020.
Only 5% of the pilots are women
How many female pilots are there? According to international statistics, there are 7,409 women pilots, 5% of the total. These data refer to 2018, elaborated by the International Society of women airline pilots. The incidence changes a lot according to the companies: it ranges from 7.4% of female pilots for the American United and from 7% of the German Lufthansa to 1.5% of Emirates, the Dubai company. Even fewer Norwegian female pilots, only one percent. Here is the situation of other major airlines: 5.9% for British Airways, 5.5% for Air Canada, 5.2% for KLM, 5% for JetBlue and easyJet, 4.5% for Delta.