British Airways has revealed a gender pay gap of 10%, a figure far lower than its rivals.
BA became the latest airline to publish its median gender pay gap on Thursday, with less than two weeks to go before the deadline for companies to submit their statistics to the Government.
Its 10% figure is lower than other major airlines – easyJet has a gender pay gap of 45.5%, Jet2 49.7% and TUI Airways 47.3%.
All four airlines said that the difference in average male and female pay was influenced by the number of men in highly-paid piloting positions.
Jet2 added that their figures were compounded by the large number of female cabin crew employees, who are on a lower pay scale.
A BA spokeswoman told the Press Association: “British Airways has been recruiting female pilots for more than 30 years and the percentage of female flight crew at the airline is 6%, double the national average of around 3% to 4%.
“The airline recognises that there is a gender imbalance within its pilot community and is working to address this in part through greater visibility of its female pilots to inspire the next generation.
“British Airways employees including female pilots visit schools, colleges and recruitment events to inspire girls and women to take up a career in aviation, and to enter roles in engineering and flight operations.”
The company added that if pilots were taken out of their calculations, its median gender pay gap would favour women by 1%.
One reason why BA performs better than its rivals could be the percentage of women in high profile positions other than piloting – 34% of BA staff in the top pay quartile are women, compared with 10.7% for easyJet, 7.2% for Jet2 and 5% for TUI.
Meanwhile, 49% of those in the lowest pay quartile are women, compared with figures of 69% or more for its competitors.
The gender pay gap is calculated as the difference between the average salaries of men and women – it is not the same as equal pay, where firms are required to pay people doing the same job the same salary regardless of gender.
By April 4 companies and public bodies with 250 employees or more are required to have submitted their median and mean gender pay gap figures to the Government Equalities Office.
An estimated 9,000 employers are expected to have to submit such data – with those who miss the deadline potentially facing legal action.