Brussels Airlines will be operating a special flight on International Women’s Day on March 8 from Brussels to Entebbe via Kigali. The Airbus A330 will operate flight SN465 to Eastern Africa with an all-female crew, including the captain and the first officer. Brussels Airlines itself has a female CEO and is having more and more ladies as crew members on its planes, compared to even ten years ago.
“Brussels Airlines advocates equal rights between men and women and – in a broader perspective – a more inclusive world in general,” the airline said. “As a symbolic gesture on International Women’s Day, we operate this all-female flight to raise awareness about gender inequality in Europe as well as in Africa, the airline’s most important market.”
A Brussels Airlines flight operated by an all-female crew is – fortunately – not a rarity anymore as 10.2% of the company’s pilots and 73% of its cabin crew are women. Nevertheless the company wants to underline the importance of a gender inclusive world and therefor Captain Anne, First Officer Katti and Cabin Crew Members Ann, Tania, Sylvie, Sophie, Ellen, Elke, Pascale, Gina and Sandy will operate flight SN467 to Kigali and Entebbe on international Women’s day.
Next to female flying staff, the airline employs women on all levels and in every department, leading to a total of 51.7% of its workforce. The company strives to support all employees, men and women, to ensure that every colleague can reach their full career potential, while maintaining a good work-life balance. It therefor has an HR policy with a strong focus on initiatives to create a healthy work-life balance with amongst others part time regime, flexible working hours, sabbatical and home working solutions.
“I really feel equal to my male colleagues at work and I actually don’t really think about it that much. Never have I had the feeling that I couldn’t go forward with my career because I’m a women. Although there are moments when it looks like I have a very different approach on some things, but that just seems appreciated. No matter if you are a boy or a girl, man or a woman, every job is made for everybody, as long as you love what you do!” Isabelle Careme – Cabin repair techinican at Brussels Airlines
Brussels Airlines will be joined on that day by fellow Star Alliance member Ethiopian Airlines, which will operate an Addis Ababa – Stockholm – Oslo flight with an all-female crew on the same day.
The airline flies daily between the European capital city and Entebbe, in conjunction with both Kigali – six services a week and Bujumbura – 1 service per week and is considered as one of the favourite airlines for Ugandans and Rwandans to fly not just to Brussels, but via the Belgian capital to over 100 destinations in Europe, North America and Africa.
Source: Logistics Update Africa via RwandAnFlyer
