Aer Lingus is marking International Women’s Day today by offering Priority Boarding to all women departing on British and European flights from Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Knock and Belfast.
Around 110 flights will see female travellers along with any junior travel companions board their flight ahead of all other guests as a gesture by the airline for the celebration of women’s achievements which promotes greater gender equality.
Aer Lingus said more than 2,000 of its 4,200 employees are female, including pilots, cabin crew, engineers, flight dispatchers, check-in and boarding teams, planners, IT, marketing, communications, finance, and logistics specialists.
The airline’s Lift (Let’s Inspire Female Talent) network supports women’s career progression through workshops, panels discussions, networking and mentoring programmes.
Today’s transatlantic flight, EI 105 from Dublin to New York, was managed by an all-female crew. Aer Lingus said it was the first in Europe to employee women pilots, with Grainne Cronin taking to the air as a qualified pilot in 1978.
Although only one of 10 of its pilots are female, Aer Lingus said that’s more than double the international airline industry average.
This week staff members were also invited to bring their daughters to work for a day, to see the career opportunities available in the airline business to young women.
Davina Pratt, Director of Operations, said: “As a female Senior Manager I firmly believe in recognising and supporting female talent. At Aer Lingus we are proud to employ more than 2,000 females and I hope this figure will continue to rise as we see more women in visible leadership positions in Aer Lingus and beyond.”
