Global airline chiefs gathering in Sydney this week are mapping out the future of an industry that transports a big chunk of the world’s population. Good luck finding a woman among them.
It’s hard to describe the International Air Transport Association as anything other than a boys’ club, at least at the highest echelon. The board of governors of the aviation industry group, which represents 290 airlines and 82 per cent of global air traffic, yesterday posed for a photo on the eve of its meeting: There was one woman among 26 airline bosses — Christine Ourmières-Widener, CEO of Flybe Group, a small regional carrier in the UK.
The scarcity of women leaders in aviation, which trails other industries, reverberated at the gathering. Ourmières-Widener, the solo woman in the photo, in an interview said IATA can help push the industry to start solving the problem. “Maybe we need to be more creative,” she said, suggesting that “if it’s a priority” the group could help promote mentoring, coaching and setting objectives that would lead to a larger pool of women. This discussion comes as airlines face political, economic and workforce hurdles.
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