<p><img alt="BALPA - Female pilots and maternity" src="/getasset/bf814a59-94bc-45f1-bd7b-5c7a9c14995f/" /></p>
<p>With fewer than one in 10 commercial airline pilots throughout the world female, you might think that the biggest challenge when it comes to addressing the gender balance is ensuring that more young women consider a career in the cockpit in the first place, and go on to apply for training courses and other cadet schemes.</p>
<p>However, while easing the path into the flightdeck for women would certainly help, female pilots often continue to face barriers to career advancement once established in the profession. A big problem, according to the British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) is that the airline sector – in the UK at least – lags behind other industries when it comes to maternity pay.</p>
<p>According to BALPA general secretary Brian Strutton, many UK airlines offer their pilots who leave to have a baby six weeks at 90% of previous salary, and then 33 weeks of statutory maternity pay, which, he says, can amount to an effective salary cut of 90%. “It means that a lot of pilots have to choose between continuing to work or having a baby, which is fundamentally unfair,” he says.</p>
<p>“Back in 2017, we had set up a group to look at initiatives to get more women to enter the profession, but women pilots we spoke to told us that even when they get through all the hurdles, they couldn’t afford to start a family,” he adds.</p>
<p>BALPA, which launched a campaign for better maternity pay at an event in the House of Commons in February – hosted by MP Maria Miller and attended by some 30 women pilots – wants airlines to match the terms offered in other sectors including engineering, pharmaceuticals and the public sector. Aviation, he notes, “sticks out like a sore thumb”.</p>
<p>Its proposal is for women on maternity leave to receive full pay for the first 26 weeks of their maternity leave, and half pay for the remainder of their statutory leave. The level of pay should, it says, be calculated according to the pilot’s average pay over the 12 months before they declared themselves pregnant and removed themselves from flying duties.</p>
<p>Strutton acknowledges that some UK carriers, including DHL, AirTanker, and Thomas Cook, offer slightly better packages than average, but he says one of the big airlines, such as British Airways, EasyJet, or Virgin Atlantic, must “take a lead, and, if they do, we can crack this”.</p>
<p>With fewer than one in 10 commercial airline pilots throughout the world female, you might think that the biggest challenge when it comes to addressing the gender balance is ensuring that more young women consider a career in the cockpit in the first place, and go on to apply for training courses and other cadet schemes.</p>
<p>However, while easing the path into the flightdeck for women would certainly help, female pilots often continue to face barriers to career advancement once established in the profession. A big problem, according to the British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) is that the airline sector – in the UK at least – lags behind other industries when it comes to maternity pay.</p>
<p>According to BALPA general secretary Brian Strutton, many UK airlines offer their pilots who leave to have a baby six weeks at 90% of previous salary, and then 33 weeks of statutory maternity pay, which, he says, can amount to an effective salary cut of 90%. “It means that a lot of pilots have to choose between continuing to work or having a baby, which is fundamentally unfair,” he says.</p>
<p>“Back in 2017, we had set up a group to look at initiatives to get more women to enter the profession, but women pilots we spoke to told us that even when they get through all the hurdles, they couldn’t afford to start a family,” he adds.</p>
<p>BALPA, which launched a campaign for better maternity pay at an event in the House of Commons in February – hosted by MP Maria Miller and attended by some 30 women pilots – wants airlines to match the terms offered in other sectors including engineering, pharmaceuticals and the public sector. Aviation, he notes, “sticks out like a sore thumb”.</p>
<p>Its proposal is for women on maternity leave to receive full pay for the first 26 weeks of their maternity leave, and half pay for the remainder of their statutory leave. The level of pay should, it says, be calculated according to the pilot’s average pay over the 12 months before they declared themselves pregnant and removed themselves from flying duties.</p>
<p>Strutton acknowledges that some UK carriers, including DHL, AirTanker, and Thomas Cook, offer slightly better packages than average, but he says one of the big airlines, such as British Airways, EasyJet, or Virgin Atlantic, must “take a lead, and, if they do, we can crack this”.</p>