{"id":2941,"date":"2016-09-23T09:59:04","date_gmt":"2016-09-23T09:59:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/press.thomson.co.uk\/?p=2941"},"modified":"2018-08-22T15:56:36","modified_gmt":"2018-08-22T15:56:36","slug":"thomson-airways-calling-for-more-female-pilots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tui.co.uk\/press\/thomson-airways-calling-for-more-female-pilots\/","title":{"rendered":"THOMSON AIRWAYS CALLING FOR MORE FEMALE PILOTS"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li><em>UK\u2019s third largest airline calling on female applicants for latest pilot roles<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>23 September 2016<\/strong> &#8211; Rachel Barrett, 28 from Liverpool, fell in love with flying at a young age \u2013 but never believed it would become her career.<\/p>\n<p>The former travel agent, who works for Luton-based Thomson Airways, has been a First Officer with the airline for three years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn a whim I decided to book a flying lesson at Liverpool airport and became hooked \u2013 so I signed up to a course to gain my professional pilot\u2019s licence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Having caught the flying bug, the aspiring pilot became a frequent flyer taking to the skies most evenings and weekends to build up her flying hours, becoming fully qualified in 2012.<\/p>\n<p>However, it wasn\u2019t until she joined Thomson as a retail assistant in the Liverpool store four years ago that she met with the opportunity to become a pilot with Thomson Airways.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy colleague spotted an internal recruitment notice for newly qualified pilots to join the airline on the cadet training scheme to fly the Boeing 737. I applied and was invited to an assessment day, eventually making it down to the final stages.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Two weeks after her final assessment Rachel received the phone call telling her she\u2019d got the job \u2013 \u201cI was over-the-moon!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Having joined Thomson Airways in 2014, Rachel is now based at Manchester airport and has currently clocked up 2,500 hours flying the airline\u2019s 737 series. This autumn she will be training to fly the airline\u2019s new state of the art Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner which will travel to far flung destinations such as Jamaica, Dominican Republic and Mexico.<\/p>\n<p>Thomson Airways employs nearly 900 pilots, but just 3% are women, something which the airline is keen to change, with its latest pilot recruitment drive.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Caroline Kitcher, HR Director at TUI UK &amp; Ireland, said: <\/strong>\u201cFor our customers, their holiday begins the moment they step foot on the plane \u2013 so our pilots play a huge part in their journey.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re looking for pilots with the aptitude, passion and dedication to going the extra smile for our customers \u2013 it\u2019s a career that is achievable for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rachel added that she would encourage more young women to consider a career as a pilot.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo be able to travel to different destinations every day is a dream come true. Combined with the development opportunities, I really couldn\u2019t recommend it highly enough. As long as you have the dream, and dedication, anyone can become a pilot \u2013 the sky\u2019s the limit!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>TUI UK and Ireland, the parent company of Thomson Airways, recently announced it will deliver more than 2,000 new apprentices by 2020, including news of an industry-first pledge \u2013 to develop an all-new apprenticeship scheme to become a pilot. Working in collaboration with the Industry Skills Board, the new scheme will see changes to the funding system, making becoming a pilot a more accessible career option for many.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>UK\u2019s third largest airline calling on female applicants for latest pilot roles 23 September 2016 &#8211; Rachel Barrett, 28 from Liverpool, fell in love with flying at a young age \u2013 but never believed it would become her career. The former travel agent, who works for Luton-based Thomson Airways, has been a First Officer with [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":3521,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,185],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-thomson-airways"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>THOMSON AIRWAYS CALLING FOR MORE FEMALE PILOTS | TUI UK Media Centre<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tui.co.uk\/press\/thomson-airways-calling-for-more-female-pilots\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"THOMSON AIRWAYS CALLING FOR MORE FEMALE PILOTS | TUI UK Media Centre\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"UK\u2019s third largest airline calling on female applicants for latest pilot roles 23 September 2016 &#8211; Rachel Barrett, 28 from Liverpool, fell in love with flying at a young age \u2013 but never believed it would become her career. 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