The airline have said they want 20 percent more female cadets by 2020. At the moment females make up 6 percent of EasyJet's yearly intake; the company has 164 pilots — of which 62 are captains.
This means that EasyJet will be recruiting around 50 females annually, which the airline believes will start to change the face of the industry.
"At 6 percent of our yearly intake, we already have one of the greatest numbers of female pilots in the industry, but why stop there? We're aiming to double the number of new female pilot recruits over the next two years. And we're excited for you to join us," it said in an online statement.
We've already doubled the number of female pilot cadets to 12% in the last year — and we're not stopping there. That's our #OrangeSpirit pic.twitter.com/KA06Yp7wfy
— easyJet (@easyJet) 15 December 2016
The initiative has been named after renowned British aviator Amy Johnson, who was the first female pilot to fly solo from the UK to Australia in 1930. Since the launch of the initiative, EasyJet said they have received over 600 applications from women.
Aircraft named after Amy Johnson unveiled @easyJet @LDNLutonAirport target 20% female trainee pilots @BBCLookEast pic.twitter.com/KeegxqyfoI
— Kate Bradbrook (@katebradbrook) December 15, 2016
Estimations from the International Society of Women Airline Pilots (ISA) have said that there are about 4,000 women pilots worldwide, out of a total of 130,000. That means that just 3 percent of pilots are female.
EasyJet chief executive, Carolyn McCall, said she welcomed the increase in female pilots as the industry has been dominated by men for years.
"Years ago almost all professions were dominated by men and over the last five decades there has been significant progress in almost every sector with women entering and attaining senior positions in professions like law, medicine, education, finance and politics," Ms. McCall said in a recent interview.
Flying back to Manchester from Berlin with @easyJet back in October ✈️🇩🇪 #easyjet #A320 #futurepilot pic.twitter.com/V0YvhcoGQm
— ✈Emma Williams✈ (@EmmaA380Pilot) 10 December 2016
"However, the proportion has not changed for pilots and it is hard to think of another high-profile profession where women are so underrepresented," Ms. McCall added.
Ms. McCall said it was up to airlines like EasyJet to redress the balance as well as understand why there are so few women pilots.
