Women on the wings: Cathay Pacific’s female pilots

Each year on 8 March, International Women’s Day celebrates the achievements of women while reminding us of the biases that hinder women’s participation and the progression towards gender equity.

The aviation industry has identified itself as a sector for improvement. In 2019, just three per cent of senior leadership roles at trade body International Air Transport Association (IATA) member airlines were filled by women, while, on the flight deck, women represented just five per cent of the global crew. That year, IATA started its 25by2025 campaign to increase the number of women in senior roles by or up to a minimum of 25 per cent among its member airlines by the start of 2025.

Cathay Pacific sought more ambitious targets of not more than 65 per cent of the same gender in senior positions by 2025 and 70 per cent at the board level by 2027. By the end of 2024, we’d already reached 30 per cent of women in senior positions from General Manager and above and 24 per cent of women on our board. However, redressing the balance on the flight deck is more challenging.

Worldwide, we’re one of the stronger performers. Women represent 8.3 per cent of our pilot ranks, compared to a 2023 global industry average of 6 per cent. Over 77 per cent of our current female pilots came from our pioneering Cadet Pilot Programme.

The disparity partly stems from the outdated perception that flying is solely a male preserve, as well as the time it’ll take for the existing balance to even out. “Cathay Pacific has about 3,000 pilots, so I’m not sure I’ll see gender equity on the flight deck in my lifetime, as much as I’d love to,” says Director of Flight Operations Captain Chris Kempis. “However, we now have female pilots at every rank, from new cadets to Senior Training Captains and members of our management team.

“We’re attracting extremely talented and motivated incumbents.”

Captain Kirsty Smith is Deputy Chief Pilot on the Airbus fleet. She’s now one of the role models she used to look up to after she graduated from our Cadet Pilot Programme, which she describes as “the golden ticket”, in 2004. “There weren’t many of us when I started but, thanks to those who’d come before me, many barriers had already been broken.”

Alongside our other female pilots, she attends as many recruitment days as possible in order to inspire other women.

Cathay Pacific marks International Women’s Day both to celebrate progress to date and highlight the continuing journey towards equity. Last year saw all parts of the business involved, with a flight planned and operated end-to-end solely by women.

“Events like that fill me with pride,” says Captain Kempis. “It projects the environment in which we work and a culture that sees us as equals.”