Think, Act, Report: EasyJet
Delivering on gender equality through transparent reporting
EasyJet values diversity and inclusivity which we believe contributes to our continued success, by attracting and retaining a workforce which both reflects the airline’s customer base and can engage with passengers as individuals.
We have well-established reporting on the gender makeup of our leadership teams, as well as of our overall workforce. Our executive team is currently 50% female and our board is 30% female. In 2015 we took the step of reporting on gender pay for the different employee communities within easyJet, such as pilots and cabin crew, the management and administration community, as well as the company as a whole.
Being transparent and reporting on gender is helping easyJet to focus on how it can continue to make progress. It also shows easyJet’s people, partners and customers that it is a company which values diversity.
Issue to be resolved
Analysis of our workforce shows that just over 5% of easyJet’s 2,500 pilots are female – in line with the industry as a whole.
Action Taken
To drive up female representation in this section of our employee community, we have recently launched a new initiative to attract more women to become pilots. Being a pilot is an interesting and rewarding career and easyJet wants more women to bring their skills to the role. The role is also one which is available to women throughout the UK. We currently employ pilots at 11 bases across the country including around London, Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Belfast, as well as across the rest of Europe.
As part of this programme, we are encouraging the career of a pilot to women, by talking to school groups and working with organisations which inspires female take-up of STEM subjects. This complements our wider work to provide mentoring to young women in schools near our head office in Luton.
We are also offering ten places for women each year on the easyJet pilot training programme and underwriting the £100,000 training loan. This is the first phase of our long term strategy to increase the proportion of female pilots at the airline.
Results and Next Steps
Currently women make up 6% of easyJet’s new pilot intake. We plan to double the proportion of female entrants to 12% over the next two years.