Aer Lingus supports aspiring female pilots in cooperation with Irish Girl Guides

To attract interest among young girls, Aer Lingus started cooperating with the Irish Girl Guides. The airline company believes girls will aspire to become qualified members of the aviation industry and to study science, technology, engineering and maths thanks to this partnership.

The organization counts about 12,000 members. Aer Lingus created three ‘Aviation Badges’ which girls can get through three various ways. One for each level of Girl Guide: Ladybirds (5 – 7 years), Brownies (7 – 10 years) and Guides (10 – 14 years). Ladybirds are supposed to paint a picture of an aircraft and to manufacture a paper plane or kite. Older Brownies should discover jobs connected with aviation and air transportation, learn about notable women in the aviation history and learn the phonetic language of Aviation. The oldest Guides have to investigate the pilot profession, education and skills necessities, provide their own aircraft experiments and think of flying things.

There is a rich history in motivating female pilots across Aer Lingus. The company was the very first airline employing a female pilot and currently, there are about 50% more female pilots in Aer Lingus than average. The Irish airline supports women in aviation via Aer Lingus Future Pilot Programme and the Aer Lingus Apprenticeship Scheme.

Helen Concannon, Chief Commissioner for the Irish Girl Guides commented on the partnership: “Irish Girl Guides are delighted to partner with Aer Lingus on the development of Aviation badges. We love to encourage our girls to aim high and reduce stereotypes. Our programme develops their confidence and a self-belief that they can be anything they want to be. However, it is hard to be something you can’t see and this partnership enables us to show our members the variety of things they can be in the aviation industry.”