Propelling Women in Aviation

The aviation industry is a major global employer, providing 11.3 million direct worldwide . The civil aerospace sector – which manufactures aircraft, systems and engines for business and leisure air travel – employed 1.3 million people in 2018. Airlines, air navigation service providers and airports directly employed a further 4.5 million people (ATAG, 2020).

Where the aviation industry lags behind many others and has seen a problem for years, is in terms of gender diversity. Global statistics on gender equality within aviation remain scarce but it is generally well-observed and acknowledged to be male dominated. With the exception of airline crews and frontline airport staff, a woman would very likely find herself as a minority in other parts of the industry. What is the state of women in aviation and what is it like to be a woman in a male dominated industry? Is there cause to motivate more women to join the industry and what efforts are being made to propel the women in aviation? Aerospace Singapore explores.

Gender Disparity in the Industry

There are several theories for the gender disparity in the aviation sector. A common theory is that it is a result of historical legacy, stemming from the Golden Age of Aviation and the standardised roles for men and women back then. By 1936, most flight attendants were women. They were believed to be better able to care for the psychological needs of passengers but were also selected based on physical characteristics. Most of the other vocations, like pilots, technicians and air traffic controllers were built on engineering and technical disciplines which were traditionally not taken up by women then. Unfortunately, biases and perceptions about women’s roles in aviation industry persisted and went unchallenged for decades.

Thankfully, this has changed in more recent times. Aviation companies, international organisations and professional groups are now going the extra mile to encourage more women to enter the aviation world. Over the last few years, greater efforts have also been made to collect and study data and track the representation of women in the aviation industry. The broad aim is to understand the trends and reasons behind the dearth of women in aviation, and shape policies to attract and retain more women with sought-after qualifications and experience.

In 2020, six key international aviation and aerospace organisations partnered with leadership consulting firm Korn Ferry International to produce the first global study on gender diversity in the sector. Data from the “Soaring Through the Glass Ceiling Report” showed large gender gaps in important aviation jobs. The study found, for example, that only 6% of commercial pilots globally were women. In comparison to many other ‘traditional male professions’, such as doctors and surgeons (31.8% female) or police officers (15% female), the closing of the gender gap for pilots had demonstrated slow progress.

Significant gaps were also noted in other aviation line roles with women comprising about 26% of air traffic controllers; 18% of flight dispatchers; and less than 9% of aerospace engineers globally. The gender disparity was even more stark at the higher management level. The report revealed that in 2020, women held only 14% of C-suite roles and accounted for just 3% of CEOs across the top 100 aviation organisations worldwide. This is low compared to global figures which show that about 32% of senior management worldwide are women, and 24% of CEOs and managing directors across industries are female .

Even in the Western Europe and North America regions, which were ranked highest in the World Economic Forum’s 2021 Global Gender Gap Index, gender disparity continues to persist in aviation, especially in more technical areas.

In 2018, the US Congress chartered the formation of the Women in Aviation Advisory Board (WIAAB) to provide recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on ways to increase female representation in aviation careers. In its report released in March 2022, WIAAB noted that women made up less than 20% of the workforce in most aviation occupations in the US. The lowest representations were in maintenance technicians (2.6%), senior leadership positions (3%), and professional pilots (4.6%).

Figure 1 Percentage women in US aviation industry workforce (Source: Rebecca Lutte, “Women in Aviation: A Workforce Report 2021 Edition”, December 2021)

The WIAAB was also tasked to look into the reasons for the low representation of women in the industry and suggest policies in response to the findings. In her statement on the report , WIAAB Chair Dr Heather Wilson remarked “The biggest barrier that discourages women from entering and staying in aviation careers is culture – and it is the hardest to change. Women don’t feel like they belong.” To tackle this issue, the WIAAB proposed 55 recommendations in March 2022, which were unanimously approved by the US Congress, the Department of Transportation, the FAA and industry. The recommendations were grouped in five areas of culture, recruitment, retention, advancement and data.

Dr Wilson described the mission of attracting and retaining women as “critical to the future of the industry”. “Especially in a tight post-pandemic labour market,” she noted, “the aviation industry desperately needs women to choose aviation careers”.

Women to Bolster Aviation Industry and Businesses

Indeed, the aviation and aerospace industries are no strangers to manpower challenges. As early as 2009, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) had foreseen a growing need for qualified and competent aviation professionals to fill future vacancies created by the anticipated retirements of an aging ‘Baby Boomer’ generation. It launched the Next Generation of Aviation Professionals (NGAP) initiative which was later elevated from an initiative status to a full ICAO programme.

In recent months, air travel has been bouncing back with a vengeance as the impact of COVID-19 lessens. With the resurgence comes a demand for highly trained workers from a larger, and more diverse pool. Meanwhile, global aviation companies had been forced to shed hundreds and thousands of employees to stay afloat when air travel demand plunged for months on end. By the end of 2021, the number of direct aviation jobs globally was estimated to have shrunk by about 21% (ATAG, 2021), equating to the release of 2.3 million employees. As travel restrictions were lifted, pent-up demand for air travel surged and passenger traffic accelerated sharply and suddenly. This left the industry scrambling to beef up their workforce and restore capacity. Major airports in places like US, UK, India, Australia, Germany, and the Netherlands saw record numbers of flight delays and cancellations, mega long lines, and prolonged waiting time for passengers.

Now, more than ever, the aviation industry is facing a pressing need to secure current and future personnel to ensure a safe, efficient, and sustainable civil aviation sector. There is greater impetus to tap on women who account for close to 40% of the total global labour force (World Bank, 2022).

In addition, aviation organisations stand to benefit from a business perspective, by hiring more women. Research by McKinsey has found that companies in the top quartile of gender diversity were 25% more likely to have better financial performance than their peers. Executive teams with more than 30% women were also more likely to outperform those with fewer or no women by close to 50%. More diverse companies were also found to be better able to win top talent, and improve their customer orientation, employee satisfaction, and decision making, leading to a virtuous cycle of increasing returns.

Figure 2 More gender diverse companies demonstrated better financial performance (Source: McKinsey & Company, “Diversity wins: How inclusion matters”, May 2020)

Worldwide Efforts to Close the Gender Gap

Given the clear benefits of attracting and keeping more women engaged in aviation roles, initiatives are being driven on several fronts with industry associations, progressive global players and passionate leaders leading the way.

In 2019, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) launched its “25by2025” initiative, an industry-wide campaign that focuses on improving female representation in the air transport industry. The campaign targeted not only airlines but also aircraft manufacturers and aviation-services providers. Close to 120 signatories have committed to reaching 25% of leadership positions being held by women in 2025, or to deliver a 25% improvement in such numbers by that year. IATA is also working to improve its internal diversity levels. For example, it plans female representation on all panels at conferences, and aims to ensure 25% female representation on its various committees. In just three years, the number of female senior leaders and directors in IATA increased from 16% to 22%.

American jet engine manufacturer, GE Aviation, has also been taking steps to help its workforce become ‘as gender balanced as possible’. In 2016, the company reached a 50:50 gender parity among its Edison Engineering Development Program – a career leadership programme which offers its engineers deep industry experience, mentorship and opportunities for further education. GE set a goal of hiring 20,000 women in technical roles by 2020, supported by a programme titled ‘Cultivate’, to develop and retain its women engineers. Since 1997, the company has run an internal global women’s network to attract, develop and retain its female professionals. Its chapter in India for example, runs a RESTART programme to assist female professionals who may have taken a break in their careers for family to restart their aviation careers.

Aircraft manufacturer, Boeing, also has an employee-led business resource group for women – Boeing Women Inspiring Leadership (BWIL), with 33 chapters worldwide. It is one of the few aviation organisations that produces a Diversity and Inclusion report. Apart from data on gender, ethnicity, disability, and sexual orientation of its workforce, the report sets clear and transparent targets to measure D&I progress. The purposeful and deliberate actions undertaken by Boeing are bearing fruit. The Boeing Korea Technology & Engineering Center, for example, boasts an engineering workforce of nearly 45% women, in a society with just 11% of female engineers . In Boeing’s outfit in the UK, 49% of its graduate hires and 34% of its apprentice technicians were women in 2021.

A gender balanced team at the Boeing Korea Technology & Engineering Center. Photo: Boeing

Women in Aviation in Singapore

In Singapore, gender-differentiated data on the aviation industry is not yet available. What is known is, that as a regional hub, the Singapore aviation industry contributes to 131,000 direct jobs (ATAG, 2020), of which 22,000 are aerospace jobs. The country’s female labour participation rate, at 62% (MOM, 2021), is higher than the global average.

Figure 3 Overview of aviation benefits to Singapore (Source: Oxford Economics for ATAG report “Aviation Benefits Beyond Borders”, September 2020)

Does Singapore defy convention, and does it see more participation of women in the aviation and aerospace industries?

Limited data and anecdotal suggestions point to a situation that is more consistent with global findings. Female pilots, for example, continue to comprise a minute fraction of the total pilot population in Singapore. National carrier, Singapore Airlines (SIA), hired its first female pilots in August 2015, more than 40 years after its establishment. Its regional arm at the time, SilkAir, faired a little better as it had started hiring its first female pilot in 2001, in the form of Captain Anastasia Gan Kum Yoke. However, the needle hasn’t moved much since then. Most recent data shows that there are only 39 women pilots flying for SIA and Scoot (SilkAir was integrated into SIA in 2021) – which is about 1.4% of the total number of pilots employed by the SIA Group.

The proportion of women in technical and engineering roles is also generally observed to be quite small. Published data on gender distribution and employment in Singapore MRO organisations is scant. However, SIA’s maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) arm SIA Engineering Company, has revealed that the proportion of women under its permanent employment is 11% . This is almost a third of the proportion of women permanently employed under its parent company, which is at 33%.

“I can definitely say that there is an underrepresentation of women in the engineering and technical operations sector within aviation, not just in Singapore but internationally”, said Joelle Chia, a customer service engineer with Textron Aviation in Singapore. Joelle had studied Aeronautical Engineering Technology at Purdue University in Indiana, US, and noted, that even within aviation courses, the technical or engineering domains were less popular compared to flight (pilot) and management fields. “It’s (an issue) everywhere”, Joelle said, “I have experienced working both in a Singapore company and a US MNC and I can say that whenever I am in a technical meeting, I am always the only female.”

On the shopfloor at the Rolls-Royce Seletar Assembly and Test Unit. Photo:Rolls-Royce Singapore

In other aviation roles such as airport services, there is a visibly stronger representation of women. Changi Airport Group , for example, has permanent female employees making up 36% of its workforce while at SATS , the proportion is 29%.

“In general, women are quite visible in the Singapore aviation industry but there is a beer bottle effect. Higher up, it tapers off,” said Ms Lou-Ann Seet, vice president for the Women in Aviation International – Singapore Chapter. “In aviation and aerospace companies here, we can and do see many women, especially in the service, executive, finance and human resource roles. A smaller number perform technical roles including aerospace engineers, designers and air traffic controllers. At the very senior management level though, it tapers off significantly”, she added.

Advocating for the Future of Women in Aviation

Both Joelle and Lou-Ann are passionate about changing this situation. Together with 29 other like-minded women and men from the industry, they became founding members of the Women in Aviation International – Singapore Chapter (WAI-SG). Dr Amy Khor, Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment was guest-of-honour at the launch of WAI-SG on 21 March 2021, with Mr Kevin Shum, then-director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, also in attendance.

“The launch of WAI-SG was very timely as 2021 was dedicated as the year of ‘Celebrating SG Women’,” said Lou-Ann, noting the significance of having support from government agencies for the initiative. “Women are included in the Singapore aviation sector, but our numbers are still quite small. When women cannot find the support they need, they end up leaving their jobs and the industry. This is where we find that there is a need to build a connection for women – to link them up to experts and to other women peers at the cross-company level for support”, she explained.

WAI-SG’s broad aims are to facilitate networks among key aviation stakeholders, increase the visibility of women in aviation, and support student outreach activities. Since its establishment, the unit has been actively growing its networks within and outside the industry. “The network that organisations like WAI-SG offer play a valuable role in the development of women in the industry,” said Joelle. “It creates opportunities for important exchanges between women in aviation, no matter which company they work for. For example, women leaders can engage with female engineers or managers to provide guidance on their career development and give advice on the skills needed to ascend to leadership roles.”

Towards this end, WAI SG launched the ‘Women in Aviation Mentorship Programme’ in collaboration Korn Ferry International and the Association of Aerospace Industries (Singapore) in February 2022. With the aim of advancing women in aviation, the programme targets the involvement of 100 women mentees from the aviation industry who will be mentored by top industry professionals.

“This is one of the ways for us to build up critical mass and legitimacy so that we can influence policies and forge a way forward for more women to create an impact in the industry,” said Lou Ann. “I am very heartened that there has been growing support in this important endeavour of closing the gender gap in aviation. In just a year after the establishment of WAI SG, our membership has increased to 100 individuals and 10 corporate members,” she added, pointing out that “very supportive” male advocates make up about 10% of WAI-SG.

Breaking the bias with the voices of female aviation professionals, male advocates and future talent. Photo: WAI-SG

The initiatives being driven by WAI-SG complement others that are being taken by government, NGOs and institutions in Singapore. Aviation and aerospace players are also actively pushing the gender diversity agenda. The SIA Group, for example, has reported that it is on track to meet two key gender targets: first, to have at least 25% female employees in senior positions (VPs and above) by 2026, and second, to increase in the number of female pilots by at least 25% from 2021 levels.

These positive changes are taking place across the aviation industry. While encouraging, the road to achieving gender diversity can, nonetheless, be expected to be a long one. Meaningful, systemic changes in an industry with a long history, large organisations, deep-rooted and traditional stereotypes will take great effort to achieve. Yet, hope remains as the global aviation industry pledges to put sustainability and sustainable practices at the heart of the restart post COVID-19.

In anticipation of heightened competition, aviation companies have become more purpose led to attract and retain talent and customers for the next chapter of recovery and growth. With wind beneath their wings, more women can be lifted and propelled to advance in the industry and have the same opportunities to savour the triumphs of a high-flying career.