EasyJet announced plans to recruit 1,000 pilots over the next 5 years. The British airline is betting on gender parity and said it hopes to attract women to their pilot training programme — the first since the outbreak of the pandemic.
We are delighted to be reopening our pilot training programme again for the first time since the pandemic hit and will see us recruit over 1,000 new pilots in the coming years.
Johan Lundgren, EasyJet’s CEO
The airline had predicted a strong summer recovery as the UK emerges from the pandemic crisis, having recently announced a scrap to almost all measures.
1. Recruitment campaign
In order to show that the next great aviation talent can be anywhere, the carrier has prepared a campaign starring multi-talented, real-life easyJet pilots. With this, EasyJet intends to show “that everyone has the potential to put their skills and passions into practice, becoming airline pilots”.
“EasyJet has long championed greater diversity in the flight deck and this series of ads aims to highlight the extraordinary breadth of skills our pilots have and show that pilots can be found in all walks of life, in a bid to attract more diverse candidates,” Lundgren went on.
Those interested in applying for the “Generation easyJet Pilot Training” programme need to be over 18 years old and have some basic knowledge of Mathematics, Science and English — no higher qualifications or diplomas are required. Aspiring pilots, with little or no flying experience, will be called upon to operate a commercial passenger jet, on a course of about two years.
2. Female pilots
An EasyJet captain and mother of two, Iris de Kan, said: “It’s important that girls have visible role models so we can combat job stereotypes and show that anyone with the motivation and passion can turn their skills to being an airline pilot.
As for Nina Le, former gymnast and now easyJet’s first senior officer, she appears performing inverted splits on the track, “showing her fantastic reflexes and coordination skills — key skills for aspiring pilots”, according to the campaign.
According to EasyJet, only 6% of pilots worldwide are women and it’s about time to change that figure and bring some balance to the sector.
