EasyJet has operated a flight with an all-female crew to mark International Women’s Day.
The captain, first officer and four cabin crew for the flight from London Gatwick to Madrid were all women.
A large proportion of the airport’s ground staff responsible for boarding the A320 jet and getting it off the ground were also women, meaning a total of more than 15 female workers were involved.
The flight was captained by Kate McWilliams, believed to be the world’s youngest female commercial airline captain.
The 27-year-old described having an all-female crew as “really significant” as only around one in 20 pilots are women.
She said: “Aviation is one of the few industries that hasn’t really caught up with other professions that were male-dominated but are now pretty 50/50 - if not females have overtaken men - things like medicine, law.
“Aviation is still less than 5% women so events like today make youngsters aware that it’s a job for anyone.”
Ms McWilliams believes the reason for the small proportion of female pilots is a lack of role models.
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