EasyJet - For The Love Of Flying

EasyJet - For The Love Of Flying

According to trade industry reports, the aviation industry is facing a global pilot shortage, as the supply of trained candidates can’t keep up with the demand of more and more people wanting to fly.

Pilot training organisation CAE estimates that the world will need 255,000 new airline pilots by 2027 to offset both the effect of retirement and industry growth.

If those vacancies can’t be filled then instances such as US regional airline Horizon Air cancelling hundreds of flights due to a lack of people to fly the planes will become even more commonplace.

One airline which is trying to head off any recruitment bottle-neck is British LCC easyJet. Over the Summer, the airline has been engaging in a marketing push, headlined “For the Love of Flying” that promotes the benefits of working for the airline.

A major part of that is a collaboration with broadcaster ITV, which is currently showcasing easyJet in a series called “Inside the Cockpit”.

According to the synopsis provided by the broadcaster, “Britain’s biggest lowcost airline is getting ready for its busiest year ever more planes, more routes, more flights and more passengers. Rookie Pilots will follow the ups and downs of easyJet’s new recruits as they take to the air for the very first time.”

The show is of course a massive coup for easyJet. It does something no recruitment video could ever do, it humanises and dramatises the experience of working for easyJet.

Instead of thousands of people seeing new pilot Ryan Clyde landing his plane in Paris in a recruitment video, millions tuned in to see it on their TV screens.

The different characters profiled in the show are then featured across the airline’s social media channels. For example, anyone wanting to find out more about Ryan and what led him to working for easyJet need only go to the Instagram page where there’s a video explaining more.

At the same time, easyJet is trying to increase the number of female pilot candidates joining, via its “Amy Johnson” programme. With only 5% of pilots globally currently being women, easyJet has an ambitious target to quadruple the number of female pilots in its ranks.

Key Take-Away

Not every airline will be fortunate enough to have its trainee pilots profiled on prime-time TV, but easyJet’s approach is nevertheless the right one. In particular the airline is being proactive, it can see the problem ahead and it is doing everything it can to try and head it off. The emphasis on female pilots is also a welcome one, and one that other airlines are following.