EasyJet has been in the press quite a bit lately since it was revealed that on average, their female staff are paid 45% less then their male employees. This might sound like a huge difference, but it pales into insignificance when you learn that Ryanair pay their female employees a massive 75% less, on average, than males.
And that’s not all…
Additionally, out of the top 25% of earners at Ryanair, only 3% are women. Ryanair has 1182 staff in the UK. The median hourly pay for these employees is 71.8% lower for women, and the median bonus was 3% lower.
These figures exclude the majority of the administration and management staff as they are based in Ireland. So these statistics don’t even include the senior board of management, which incidentally is 100% male!
Ryanair has 554 pilots based in the UK, out of this figure, just 8 are female.
The word from Ryanair
So how do Ryanair explain this disparity in pay between the sexes? Well, they believe that the main factor is that there are not many female pilots in the industry in general. Most of the females within the industry are cabin crew, and this is a much lower paid position than that of pilot. Ryanair has stated that they are now seeing an increase in female applicants for positions as a pilot, and they are keen to encourage this trend.
EasyJet paving the way for an increase in female pilots
As we’ve mentioned, EasyJet has been under fire for gender pay gap differences, but plans are in place to change this. EasyJet has made a pledge to ensure that a minimum of one out of every five pilots will be a female by the year 2020.
Times are changing
When it comes to careers, times and attitudes are certainly changing. These days professions aren’t neatly divided into those for boys and those for girls. Nowadays, little girls can dream of becoming an astronaut and boys may yearn to be a ballet dancer. The stereotyping of professions is a deep set idea for past generations when gender roles were more specifically defined. Opportunities are opening up, with parents and teachers encouraging children and young adults to look at the entire range of career opportunities available to them. No longer are young people being pushed into gender specific careers, and so over time, it’s highly likely that more women will pursue a career as a pilot.
Emily is an avid writer with a passion for the travel industry. She also loves learning and writing about nutrition and healthy living. Emily is based in the UK.
