CONVERGENCE V33 JAN - FEB 2016

Airlines
Who Runs
Ethiopian Airlines?
Go Girl Power!
Ethiopian Airlines now has its very own first all-female flight crew to ‘man’ an airplane.
Handled solely by women in every aspect, from planning, aircraft
maintenance, piloting to air traffic controlling, the all-female
Ethiopian Airlines crew made their first departure to Bangkok,
Thailand from Addis Ababa in November 2015. Not only that,
they are also greeted by customs and immigration officers who
are females as well upon arrival in Bangkok. Now, how’s that for
girl power?
But, why all-female flight crew? According to Ethiopian Airlines CEO,
Tewolde Gebremariam, this is to promote women’s empowerment
and encourage more African girls to pursue aviation careers.
“It’s going to be very inspiring for women all over the world;
aviation women and particularly African women. Because, as you
know, here in the continent of Africa, we are lagging behind in
women empowerment. So, this is going to inspire all the school
girls in Africa that they have a very bright future in the 21st century,”
Gebremariam said.
With about one third of its employees being women, the number
is still relatively small when it comes to positions such as pilots and
technicians at Ethiopian Airlines.
This is true based on one account from a cabin
maintenance technician who has worked for
Ethiopian Airlines for two years. The 22-year
old Haymanot Endale said that she works with
men most of the time as a technician, even
though there are many women who works as
flight attendants.
“I think that outside of Ethiopian Airlines, women
think that the work is very difficult, so they did not
join this company. But, we enter and (we) see that
it is very easy,” Endale said.
All-female flight crew aside, the company has also
launched a nursing room for the convenience of
new mothers. The room is equipped with
comfortable reclining chairs and refrigerators for
storage of breast milk.
Way to go, Ethiopian Airlines!
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