Etihad Airways has announced that to commemorate the International Women’s Day on the 8th of March, it has signed the 25by2025 Gender Pledge. It is the first airline of the United Arab Emirates to do so. The pledge includes increasing its female workforce by 25% by 2025. 

Emirates, Etihad, China
Meanwhile, Etihad has suspended its flights to Chengdu and Shanghai until further notice. Photo: Etihad

No longer business man class

“We are so proud to already have thousands of strong, ambitious and talented women working with us. We are excited to continue our journey of investing in gender diversity and human development as ultimately, this leads to a more engaged workforce and a higher performing financial environment.” Tony Douglas, Group Chief Executive Officer for Etihad Aviation Group said in a press release issued on Sunday.  

Etihad is also changing the Arab translation for its business class. It has been changed from the equivalent of “business man class” to a more gender-neutral language to, according to the airline, better represent the “growing number of women in senior positions traveling premium.” Etihad released a video rolled out across social media and on YouTube to announce the change.

Currently, 36% of Etihad’s employees in managerial positions and half of its national staff are female. Last year, an all-female crew flew an Etihad A320 from Abu Dhabi to London Heathrow for the 8th of March. However, only 78 of its 2000+ pilots are women. 

Rolls Royce Engine 25by2025
Airbus recently flew an Airbus A380 powered by Rolls Royce engines for three hours using SAF made from cooking oil. Photo: Rolls Royce

25by2025

25by2025 is a voluntary campaign launched in September last year for IATA member airlines to improve female representation in the industry by 25%, or up to a minimum of 25% by 2025. By the end of 2019, 59 airlines representing 30.24% of passenger traffic, had signed the initiative. Just last week Rolls Royce became the first OEM to sign. IATA says the campaign is an initial step to making the aviation industry more gender-balanced. 

By committing to the initiative airlines will report annually on key diversity metrics and increase the number of women in senior positions and under-represented areas, such as pilots. They will also increase the female nominations to IATA governance roles to a minimum of 25%. The initiative is sorely needed.

An IATA chart from 2018 reveals that the highest parentage of senior executive roles for women in aviation is in the European sector with a not-so-impressive 14%. Last on the board is the Middle East with 4%.

Emirates, Etihad, China
Both Emirates and Etihad have suspended the majority of flights to China with the exception of Beijing services. Photo: Etihad/Emirates

UAE top of the Gulf on Gender Equality

The Gulf countries do appallingly overall when it comes to gender equality, but last year the UAE jumped 23 positions, from number 49 to number 26 in the 2019 UNDP Gender Equality Index making it the highest-ranking Arab country in the world. This comes four years after the establishment of the UAE Gender Balance Council in 2015. At the beginning of last year however, the Council received backlash in the media for giving all of its gender equality work awards solely to men. 

Had you heard about the 25by2025 initiative before? Do you believe it will make a real difference in gender equality across the aviation sector?