Ethiopian Airlines has announced that it will operate an all-women functioned flight on the Addis Ababa – Bangkok route. This flight is aimed at crystalising Ethiopian’s corporate conviction of “Women Empowerment for a Sustainable Growth” and it is the first of its kind in the airline’s 70 years of service.
The flight will be operated by an all-female crew led by a female flight deck, crew members and senior female executives on-board. On-ground flight preparations such as cabin operations, airport operations, flight dispatcher, load controller, ramp operations, on-board logistics, aviation safety and security, ticket offices, catering, air traffic controllers as well as global call centre, will also be conducted by females.
Tewolde GebreMariam, group CEO, Ethiopian Airlines, remarked, “It is a great honour for us to have competent women aviation professionals at Ethiopian in every aspect of the aviation field, which portrays Ethiopian as a gender responsive organisation that strives to pursue its underlying stance of being an equal opportunity employer. We are very proud of their achievements and contributions and it is our sincere belief that this will continue with an enhanced magnitude and passion to sustain Ethiopian on its fast growth trajectory.”
“Above all, this is an ample opportunity to inspire young African female students to believe in their dreams and embark to fill the skill gap for aviation professionals. Women are the continent’s greatest untapped resources, and we are hereby fully dedicated to ensure the increase number of women in decision making positions on top of key operational areas by consistently grooming and mentoring successor female employees for top managerial, technical and operational positions. We invite the whole world to watch our all-female operated long haul flight to and from Bangkok”, he added.
Ethiopian Airlines has created a conducive situation for new mothers, by launching a nursing room, equipped with modern amenities; comfortable reclining chairs and refrigerators for the storage of breast milk. New electronic breast pumps are also distributed to new mothers. Female employees comprise 30 per cent of the airline’s total employee population.