<p>Training costs, diversity and pilot wellbeing were among the key subjects of discussion at the biennial BALPA (British Air Line Pilots Association) Parliamentary Reception, held on the riverside terrace of the UK’s Houses of Parliament in London on 3 July.</p>
<p>The event, according to BALPA’s acting executive president, Captain Paul Naylor, is “an opportunity to thank all those in Parliament without whose help the Association would have had challenges in getting our concerns across”. These have include action on drones in commercial airspace and countering laser usage which causes serious danger to pilots.</p>
<p>Moving onto the event’s themes, Naylor noted, “Many dream about becoming airline pilots but the barriers can be too high, especially for those coming from a modest and/or minority background. And that’s compounded for women.” As BALPA’s “Barriers to Entry” information booklet notes, only 6% of pilots are women and with only 4% from a BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) background, there is also a lack of diversity.</p>
<p><img alt="BALPA - Captain Paul Naylor" src="/getasset/98cd3482-29d5-4219-b3be-16716f6d3ae1/" /></p>
<p>Reinforcing his colleague’s points, Dale Mudie, a First Officer who chairs BALPA’s NextGen Committee, remarked, “For the last four years, the demand for pilots, both here in the UK and across the world, have increased and so have the associated training costs – costs which are still burdened onto the hopeful pilot. Financing in pilot training is the single biggest barrier to the profession. That means that those from less affluent backgrounds continue to be excluded from pursuing a career as a professional pilot. The UK government pledged to aid social mobility, to allow all social classes to have equal opportunities when choosing a career path. So far, they have failed to acknowledge that this career path, which is directly affected by social class, is yet to see any benefit from this pledge.</p>
<p>“When I’m sat on an aircraft with my family, I want to know that the person at the controls is there because they were the best candidate, not the one with the deepest pockets,” Mudie declared.</p>
<p>Becoming a pilot was not an obvious choice when BALPA Council Representative and 737 Frist Officer, Andrea Brezonakova, was at school. “It isn’t a career that girls usually do, even those who would make great pilots. There are many reasons for this,” she told the gathering.</p>
<p>“The stereotypes still exist. When I applied to one company, I was put into the flight attendant database, because they believed I was cabin crew. At the time, I already had 800 block hours on the 737 as a First Officer,” she recalled. “There are also very few female role models in our profession to show young girls that a career as a pilot is possible.</p>
<p>“There are structural issues too. To combine being a pilot with being a mother is difficult with our shift patterns – late nights, early starts and being away from home make it very hard. Also, we must do more about maternity pay for pilots. I feel very strongly about BALPA’s ‘Baby-onboard’ campaign to get improvements in this area. Almost all female pilots maternity pay remains the statutory minimum of less than £150 a week after the first six weeks,” Brezonakova remarked. Trying to continue to pay back the funds received for training – “about £1,000 per month” – and also pay regular bills is very hard on that amount.</p>
<p>“These days, we keep on hearing about a global pilot shortage. Well if that’s true, here’s an idea – let’s make space for more women to choose it as a profession. Let’s make it easier and more attractive to women. And let’s do the right thing for those who are already pilots and can become mentors for the next generation,” Brezonakova declared.</p>
<p><img alt="Baroness Vere, UK aviation minister" src="/getasset/7fb349c4-5a50-40d9-9952-baadc1f3a73b/" /></p>
<p>Guest speaker at the reception was the aviation minister, Baroness Vere of Norbiton, who reported that BALPA had “been fantastic in their professionalism with [the Government] on a huge number of different matters”.</p>
<p>Agreeing with the problem of the costs involved to become a pilot, the Minister commented, “That’s not really where we should be. This is a situation that matters to all of us. Firstly, social mobility is a fundamental right and it should not be that some people are blocked out of entire careers just because they don’t have the ‘Bank of Mum & Dad’ to get them into them.</p>
<p>“The second is that a shortage of pilots would be an absolute disaster – not just for the aviation industry, but also for our economy and our country and we must not forget that. So one of the things we’ll be looking at is how we can help the industry in terms of pilot training. That’s absolutely critical and certainly BALPA is on our case about it all the time.</p>
<p>“We’re looking at innovative schemes, obviously talking to the airlines and looking at technology to reduce the cost of training,” she confirmed.</p>
<p>As for diversity, Vere noted that only 6% of pilots are women. “That means we’re only fishing from half the pond and that’s not a wise thing to do for any sector,” she concluded.</p>
<p>Being at the Houses of Parliament, the event was sponsored by Labour MP Luke Pollard, who sat on the Transport Select Committee before becoming a Shadow Minister for another department.</p>
<p><a href="https://jobs.flightglobal.com/jobs/?utm_source=website&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=FJ_job_search"><img alt="Flight Jobs - Job search " src="/getasset/635f0a93-7ecb-4d76-8268-6f14d01d6f29/" /></a></p>
<p>The event, according to BALPA’s acting executive president, Captain Paul Naylor, is “an opportunity to thank all those in Parliament without whose help the Association would have had challenges in getting our concerns across”. These have include action on drones in commercial airspace and countering laser usage which causes serious danger to pilots.</p>
<p>Moving onto the event’s themes, Naylor noted, “Many dream about becoming airline pilots but the barriers can be too high, especially for those coming from a modest and/or minority background. And that’s compounded for women.” As BALPA’s “Barriers to Entry” information booklet notes, only 6% of pilots are women and with only 4% from a BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) background, there is also a lack of diversity.</p>
<p><img alt="BALPA - Captain Paul Naylor" src="/getasset/98cd3482-29d5-4219-b3be-16716f6d3ae1/" /></p>
<p>Reinforcing his colleague’s points, Dale Mudie, a First Officer who chairs BALPA’s NextGen Committee, remarked, “For the last four years, the demand for pilots, both here in the UK and across the world, have increased and so have the associated training costs – costs which are still burdened onto the hopeful pilot. Financing in pilot training is the single biggest barrier to the profession. That means that those from less affluent backgrounds continue to be excluded from pursuing a career as a professional pilot. The UK government pledged to aid social mobility, to allow all social classes to have equal opportunities when choosing a career path. So far, they have failed to acknowledge that this career path, which is directly affected by social class, is yet to see any benefit from this pledge.</p>
<p>“When I’m sat on an aircraft with my family, I want to know that the person at the controls is there because they were the best candidate, not the one with the deepest pockets,” Mudie declared.</p>
<p>Becoming a pilot was not an obvious choice when BALPA Council Representative and 737 Frist Officer, Andrea Brezonakova, was at school. “It isn’t a career that girls usually do, even those who would make great pilots. There are many reasons for this,” she told the gathering.</p>
<p>“The stereotypes still exist. When I applied to one company, I was put into the flight attendant database, because they believed I was cabin crew. At the time, I already had 800 block hours on the 737 as a First Officer,” she recalled. “There are also very few female role models in our profession to show young girls that a career as a pilot is possible.</p>
<p>“There are structural issues too. To combine being a pilot with being a mother is difficult with our shift patterns – late nights, early starts and being away from home make it very hard. Also, we must do more about maternity pay for pilots. I feel very strongly about BALPA’s ‘Baby-onboard’ campaign to get improvements in this area. Almost all female pilots maternity pay remains the statutory minimum of less than £150 a week after the first six weeks,” Brezonakova remarked. Trying to continue to pay back the funds received for training – “about £1,000 per month” – and also pay regular bills is very hard on that amount.</p>
<p>“These days, we keep on hearing about a global pilot shortage. Well if that’s true, here’s an idea – let’s make space for more women to choose it as a profession. Let’s make it easier and more attractive to women. And let’s do the right thing for those who are already pilots and can become mentors for the next generation,” Brezonakova declared.</p>
<p><img alt="Baroness Vere, UK aviation minister" src="/getasset/7fb349c4-5a50-40d9-9952-baadc1f3a73b/" /></p>
<p>Guest speaker at the reception was the aviation minister, Baroness Vere of Norbiton, who reported that BALPA had “been fantastic in their professionalism with [the Government] on a huge number of different matters”.</p>
<p>Agreeing with the problem of the costs involved to become a pilot, the Minister commented, “That’s not really where we should be. This is a situation that matters to all of us. Firstly, social mobility is a fundamental right and it should not be that some people are blocked out of entire careers just because they don’t have the ‘Bank of Mum & Dad’ to get them into them.</p>
<p>“The second is that a shortage of pilots would be an absolute disaster – not just for the aviation industry, but also for our economy and our country and we must not forget that. So one of the things we’ll be looking at is how we can help the industry in terms of pilot training. That’s absolutely critical and certainly BALPA is on our case about it all the time.</p>
<p>“We’re looking at innovative schemes, obviously talking to the airlines and looking at technology to reduce the cost of training,” she confirmed.</p>
<p>As for diversity, Vere noted that only 6% of pilots are women. “That means we’re only fishing from half the pond and that’s not a wise thing to do for any sector,” she concluded.</p>
<p>Being at the Houses of Parliament, the event was sponsored by Labour MP Luke Pollard, who sat on the Transport Select Committee before becoming a Shadow Minister for another department.</p>
<p><a href="https://jobs.flightglobal.com/jobs/?utm_source=website&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=FJ_job_search"><img alt="Flight Jobs - Job search " src="/getasset/635f0a93-7ecb-4d76-8268-6f14d01d6f29/" /></a></p>