Cambridge mum in campaign for more female pilots

Captain Marnie Munns has been flying for 15 years Credit: ITV News Anglia

A mum of two from Cambridge is at the forefront of a campaign to recruit more female pilots.

It's all part of a new recruitment drive by the Luton airline, EasyJet, which has flights out of Stansted and Southend airports.

At the moment, just over 5% of their 2,500 pilots are female, which is in line with the industry as a whole.

6% of their new pilot intake are women, but over the next two years, the airline wants to double that figure.

Marnie and her fellow female pilots are outnumbered.

According to the International Society of Women Airline Pilots:

  • There are 130,000 commercial pilots worldwide

  • 4,000 are women - that's 3%

  • There are 450 female captains worldwide

Marnie usually has 4 flights out of Luton Airport every day Credit: ITV News Anglia

The training to become a commercial pilot can cost up to £100,000 and that could be what is stopping people applying.

The airline will also be going into schools and offering more mentoring in an effort to get more female pilots onboard.

Click below to watch a report by ITV News Anglia's Sarah Cooper: