<p style="text-align:center"><img alt="New Chief Executive" src="/getasset/3ab26d91-691f-4dcb-827d-17afbbd95989/" /></p>
<p><span style="font-size:10.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><span style="color:black">The appointment of a new chief executive at a small carrier in Hong Kong might not have created many headlines this week, but it does offer another concrete example of a growing trend among the world’s airlines.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size:10.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><span style="color:black">With Liza Ng in place at Greater Bay Airlines, more of the world’s carriers are now led by women, in a C-suite trend that has accelerated over the past year or so, and particularly in the first few months of 2024.<br />
<br />
Indeed, Airline Business’s <a href="https://securelinks1.cmadvantage.co.uk/linkapp/cmaStart.aspx?LinkID=pageid100983085zqxzx~zzxrrjzf~jqqfxf~9jr99n~z~f~f~f~n" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="text-underline:none">latest survey of gender diversity in the C-suite</span></span></a> of the world’s 100 largest carriers and groups shows that while the sector ended 2023 with one fewer woman leading those businesses year on year, the broader trend across executive roles – and developments since – give the sense that the industry is starting to make good on its commitments.<br />
<br />
Notably, while only 11 of the 100 chief executives were women at the end of 2023, that number only exceeded four for the first time in 2020. And with appointments made during the first quarter of this year, airlines are on course to have boosted female representation in the chief executive position to record levels in 2024.<br />
<br />
Already this year, Joanna Geraghty has succeeded Robin Hayes as chief executive of JetBlue Airways, becoming the first woman to lead a major US carrier. Elsewhere, Mitsuko Tottori is succeeding Akasaka Yuji as Japan Airlines president and Carolina Martinoli is succeeding Marco Sansavini as Vueling chief executive. Jayne Hrdlicka’s departure from Virgin Australia has offset some of that progress.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:10.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><span style="color:black">With women taking the top role at more airlines, pushing representation firmly into double figures in percentage terms, the industry is now ahead of trends in the wider economy in many cases.<br />
<br />
There is still a long way to go, particularly if the aim is parity, but as IATA has often mentioned, the more role models there are for aspiring female executives, the better.<br />
<br />
Within the broader aerospace sphere, it is also noteworthy that Boeing appointed <a href="https://securelinks1.cmadvantage.co.uk/linkapp/cmaStart.aspx?LinkID=pageid100983085zqxzx~zzxrrjzn~jqqfxf~9jr99n~z~f~f~f~n" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="text-underline:none">Stephanie Pope as Stan Deal’s successor</span></span></a> at Boeing Commercial Airplanes this week.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:10.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><span style="color:black">The appointment of a new chief executive at a small carrier in Hong Kong might not have created many headlines this week, but it does offer another concrete example of a growing trend among the world’s airlines.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size:10.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><span style="color:black">With Liza Ng in place at Greater Bay Airlines, more of the world’s carriers are now led by women, in a C-suite trend that has accelerated over the past year or so, and particularly in the first few months of 2024.<br />
<br />
Indeed, Airline Business’s <a href="https://securelinks1.cmadvantage.co.uk/linkapp/cmaStart.aspx?LinkID=pageid100983085zqxzx~zzxrrjzf~jqqfxf~9jr99n~z~f~f~f~n" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="text-underline:none">latest survey of gender diversity in the C-suite</span></span></a> of the world’s 100 largest carriers and groups shows that while the sector ended 2023 with one fewer woman leading those businesses year on year, the broader trend across executive roles – and developments since – give the sense that the industry is starting to make good on its commitments.<br />
<br />
Notably, while only 11 of the 100 chief executives were women at the end of 2023, that number only exceeded four for the first time in 2020. And with appointments made during the first quarter of this year, airlines are on course to have boosted female representation in the chief executive position to record levels in 2024.<br />
<br />
Already this year, Joanna Geraghty has succeeded Robin Hayes as chief executive of JetBlue Airways, becoming the first woman to lead a major US carrier. Elsewhere, Mitsuko Tottori is succeeding Akasaka Yuji as Japan Airlines president and Carolina Martinoli is succeeding Marco Sansavini as Vueling chief executive. Jayne Hrdlicka’s departure from Virgin Australia has offset some of that progress.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:10.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><span style="color:black">With women taking the top role at more airlines, pushing representation firmly into double figures in percentage terms, the industry is now ahead of trends in the wider economy in many cases.<br />
<br />
There is still a long way to go, particularly if the aim is parity, but as IATA has often mentioned, the more role models there are for aspiring female executives, the better.<br />
<br />
Within the broader aerospace sphere, it is also noteworthy that Boeing appointed <a href="https://securelinks1.cmadvantage.co.uk/linkapp/cmaStart.aspx?LinkID=pageid100983085zqxzx~zzxrrjzn~jqqfxf~9jr99n~z~f~f~f~n" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="text-underline:none">Stephanie Pope as Stan Deal’s successor</span></span></a> at Boeing Commercial Airplanes this week.</span></span></span></p>