As part of the UK Equality Act 2010, companies with 250 employees and more are required by law to report their gender pay disparity. Ryanair reported the biggest gender pay gap in the UK aviation sector, with the median hourly rate for male employees 71.8 percent higher than female employees. Out of 554 pilots, the highest earning employees, only 8 (or 1.4 percent) were women. Comparatively, 69 percent of cabin crew are female.

Ryanair’s report reflects the worldwide trend of female pilot underrepresentation. The global average of female commercial pilots is 3 percent – meaning that every female captain could fit onto a A380 aircraft. In a poll of 2,000 women conducted by British Airways in 2014, 63 percent said they were put off when growing up for reasons including a lack of visible role models and being told it was a man’s job.

So what can be done? In 2015, Easyjet launched the Amy Johnson Initiative, with the goal of having 20 percent female pilots by 2020. In November 2017, female pilots recruited had doubled from 6 percent to 13 percent in just two years. This highlights the power such initiatives have in amending gender disparity, and also shows the impact pay gap transparent legislation has in creating change.

 

Photo by Jordan Sanchez on Unsplash

Share This