EasyJet has launched a Europe-wide campaign to tackle professional stereotypes and inspire more young people to consider a career in aviation, including encouraging more girls to become pilots.
In a new recruiting film released today, the airline has recreated scenes from the classic ’80s blockbuster Top Gun, in which the lead pilot roles were played by a male cast.
The new film titled ‘Calling all Mavericks’ sees the roles reversed, with Maverick and Goose played by seven-year-old King Diec and nine-year-old Oliva Joohee Ridington, supported by a cast of cabin crew, engineers and operations staff.
Filmed at London Luton Airport, with a cast of EasyJet crew children aged between seven and twelve, the film recreates some of Top Gun’s most iconic moments, including Tom Cruise’s motorcycle scene, the classroom and the infamous ‘It’s time to buzz in the tower!’ scene.
The launch of the campaign follows a new survey by EasyJet which revealed that Britons believe that gender stereotypes are still promoted by Hollywood films and limit children’s professional aspirations.
Specifically, a study of 3,000 British parents and their children reveals that nearly four in five (79%) of respondents believe that Hollywood still perpetuates gender stereotypes when it comes to roles for men and women.
By reinterpreting scenes from the classic 1986 film Top Gun, the airline hopes to correct film and TV notions of industry jobs and encourage more young people to consider a career in aviation – particularly in roles such as pilots, engineering and operations.
85% of British parents still believe there are misconceptions that a pilot is a job for men and nearly half (48%) of the 1,500 women surveyed said they never considered a job as an airline pilot as they thought it was a job for a man when they were younger. The same misconceptions were also revealed to apply to other roles in the industry, including engineers (83%) and operations (75%).
Nearly 90% of women surveyed said that career preconceptions for men and women started in school, and 88% also said that seeing men playing leading roles in technical jobs, such as pilots in movies and TV, reinforces these stereotypes.
Of the children surveyed, nearly two-thirds (60%) said they thought a pilot was a job for a boy, while nearly half 43% had never seen a female pilot.
With only around 6% of pilots worldwide being women, EasyJet has been consciously trying to address this industry-wide gender imbalance for several years now and has doubled the number of female pilots in its ranks since 2015.
The airline is expected to fly close to pre-pandemic levels this summer, with many newly qualified pilots joining the airline in recent months.
The gender imbalance in the pilot community remains the biggest factor influencing the number of gender pay gaps in the airline, which therefore represents a gender imbalance rather than unequal pay. EasyJet remains focused on solving this for the long term, encouraging more women to join the airline in the years to come and inspiring more girls to join the next generation of EasyJet pilots in the future.
To watch the video please go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTVTXcC5W_8. It’s a great take off!!
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
