Spanish low-cost carrier Vueling is celebrating company progress when it comes to female representation and has affirmed its gender equality commitment with new initiatives to get young people involved in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) aviation disciplines.

Currently, the airlines’ management committee stands at 55.6 per cent women, 5 out of 9 members, which is significantly above the threshold for national and global averages.

According to Grant Thorntons’s Women in Business 2024 report, female representation in leadership roles sits at just 40 per cent and worldwide at 33.

Fernando Cuadra, people director at Vueling, said: “We at Vueling strongly believe that gender equality and diversity not only strengthen our team but also enrich our corporate culture and contribute to the company’s success.”

Across the board for all management, the airline has seen an increase since 2019, when the percentage was just 35, to now 40.3 per cent of total leadership positions occupied by women.

Out of the company’s more than 4,800 employees, women make up just over half (51.5 per cent) of the staff, with the numbers having steadily increased over the years. Female cabin crew numbers also reached 76.5 per cent, and 46.2 per cent across all Vueling offices and airports.

However, there is still room for improvement as a company, and in the aviation industry as a whole, with its average incorporation of female pilots at just 4.7 per cent in 2024 at Vueling, in line with the industry average.

“We’ll continue working to increase women’s presence throughout the company, including in leadership positions and traditionally underrepresented operational role,” said Cuadra.

In collaboration with the Princesa de Girona Foundation, which was founded in Spain with a mission to aid the professional and personal development of youths, the airline has led the STEAMing: Helping Female Talent Fly High program.

The program was created to aid young people interested in a career in the aviation industry in any of the STEAM areas, to help train the next generation of workers in the industry.

In turn, the company hopes that it will help set the foundation for more diverse and inclusive environments in the workplace in the future.