Inspiring women to fly: CAE launches 2022 Women in Flight program with easyJet

FARNBOROUGH, UK, July 18, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - (NYSE: CAE) (TSX: CAE)  – CAE announced today at the Farnborough International Airshow 2022 that it is relaunching its Women in Flight scholarship program and expanding its reach with airline partners to create a movement that encourages young women to pursue a career as a commercial pilot.

As a global partner, easyJet has once again pledged its support for Women in Flight as the first airline to sign on for the 2022 program. easyJet will provide one European candidate access to their first employment opportunity and CAE will fund pilot training for the successful candidate. 

"The Women in Flight program demonstrates to young women that being a pilot is achievable and a wonderful profession," said Nick Leontidis, CAE's Group President, Civil Aviation. "Six women have already benefitted from the Women in Flight program since it was inaugurated in 2018, and with easyJet's continued support, the dreams of aspiring female pilots are one step closer to becoming reality."

"easyJet has long championed greater diversity across our business and the industry and we will continue to focus on challenging gendered stereotypes. Having doubled the number of female pilots flying with us in recent years, we are proud to have made progress, but we know there is still work to do. That's why we are delighted to be part of CAE's Women in Flight Scholarship once again," said easyJet's Chief Operating Officer David Morgan.

"We're pleased to see our first Women in Flight recipient, Georgina Thomas-Watson, currently completing her line training with us and look forward to another future easyJet pilot follow in her footsteps in 2022."

Currently, women make up only five percent of professional pilots and cadets in training worldwide. CAE is committed to the advancement of women in aviation to broaden the civil aviation talent pool. With the current pilot shortage and 260,000 new pilots needed over the next 10 years, the industry must take concrete action to attract more women to aviation.

To generate real change, the Women in Flight program will build a network of ambassadors, including Women in Flight recipients to share their stories and experiences with other women at events, within their communities, and on social media. The program will also create and share content about being a pilot that will allow the community to grow and reach girls who will one day fly aircraft.

CAE's Women in Flight scholarship program is a competitive program that is helping create a movement to encourage young girls and women to dream big and have no limits. With only five percent of female pilots worldwide, this program is geared to show women that they too can reach for the sky. The program helps recipients dream big as they receive a scholarship to the CAE cadet training program.

Since 2018, six women around the world have benefitted from the program. Eligible female candidates who meet the requirements of the Destination 225° program can submit their CAE Women in Flight scholarship application via CAE's website at cae.com/womeninflight.

easyJet is Europe's leading airline offering a unique and winning combination of the best route network connecting Europe's primary airports, with great value fares and friendly service. Innovation is in easyJet's DNA – since launching over 25 years ago, easyJet changed the way people fly to the present day where the airline leads the industry in digital, web, engineering and operational innovations to make travel more easy and affordable for its passengers.

The airline takes sustainability seriously and is committed to reaching net-zero carbon emissions flying by 2050. Together with its partners, including Airbus, Rolls-Royce, Cranfield Aerospace Solutions and Wright Electric, easyJet is working to accelerate the development of zero carbon emission aircraft technology. In the meantime, the airline is offsetting the carbon emissions from the fuel used for all its flights, at no additional cost to its customers, and only supports projects that are certified by Gold Standard or the Verified Carbon Standard, internationally recognised certification schemes. In addition, easyJet continues to renew its fleet, operate efficiently, and aims to fill most of its seats. Since 2000, over a 20-year period, the airline reduced its carbon emissions per passenger, per kilometre by over one-third, and aims to bring this down further.

At CAE, we equip people in critical roles with the expertise and solutions to create a safer world. As a technology company, we digitalize the physical world, deploying simulation training and critical operations support solutions. Above all else, we empower pilots, airlines, defence and security forces, and healthcare practitioners to perform at their best every day and when the stakes are the highest. Around the globe, we're everywhere customers need us to be with more than 13,000 employees in more than 200 sites and training locations in over 40 countries. CAE represents 75 years of industry firsts—the highest-fidelity flight and mission simulators, surgical manikins, and personalized training programs powered by artificial intelligence. We're investing our time and resources into building the next generation of cutting-edge, digitally immersive training and critical operations solutions while keeping positive environmental, social and governance (ESG) impact at the core of our mission. Today and tomorrow, we'll make sure our customers are ready for the moments that matter.

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SOURCE CAE INC.