This is a slightly different Bio as it’s for an industry initiative, rather than a person….so we will be representing 220 companies who have signed up to be part of 25by2025
Back in 2019 Christopher Luxon (then CEO of Air New Zealand, now prime minister of New Zealand) was presented with an award for the work Air New Zealand was doing on DE&I, and in his acceptance speech he shone a light on the shocking lack of diversity in the Aviation industry not just in the C-Suite, but across the industry. He challenged the industry to do better. It was that challenge that sparked the idea of 25by2025.
In an industry where (at the time) there were 3 female CEOs and only 4% of women in the flight deck, we realised it would require a lot of momentum to make a change. Engines are typically set at maximum thrust level during a takeoff so they have enough momentum to leave the ground, and so the question became what would be the maximum thrust required to help us change the shape of the industry. What if we could move the dial by 25% by the year 2025, would that make the difference? And so 25by2025 was born.
The idea was to get a number of airlines to join the initiative and make a public commitment to increase female representation both in senior roles and in areas where women are traditionally under-represented by 25% or to a minimum of 25%. In exchange IATA would provide the industry with a forum to discuss people related DE&I matters, develop the necessary tools to promote and share best practices and report on metrics annually. We hoped at least 25 Airlines would commit to it – in the end 215 Airlines and Industry bodies sign up to the commitment, and our cross industry network has made significant progress.
Highlights include:
– From 3 to 32 female CEOs between 2019 and 2024
– a 25% increase of women in the flight deck and 1000 new female pilots in the 22-23 post COVID year.
– Quarterly calls with all the signatories where we showcase best practices and connect our network to one another for inspiration and idea sharing – typically 120+ organisations are participating in the calls
– Creation of a DE&I in aviation best practices guide book which is a free resource for the industry to support their efforts. You’ll find it available here. https://www.iata.org/contentassets/93253b033dea48e38aabc9f639d7b486/25by2025-best-practice-guide-2023.pdf
– Creation of a DEI self-assessment survey to help organisations gauge where they are up to against a series of best practices(110 organisational completions)
– DE&I datathon to help drive diversity and inclusion among all signatories to showcase how to bring greater diversity to the industry
– Organizing in-person event for signatories to meet and discuss the key dilemmas facing the DE&I agenta across the industry.
I know this may not be your usual sort of application but we believe that being able to show case the real impact we can have when we work collaboratively across the industry to bring better representation is in line with your ambition for the awards. Our ambition is to ensure the industry is as diverse as the world it serves!
