EasyJet reports gender pay gap at 52%, UK’s highest

Bloomberg

EasyJet Plc, Britain’s biggest discount airline, has revealed that men at the company earn on average 51.7 percent more than women, one of the highest gender pay
gaps reported so far in the UK as part of government transparency requirements.
Under the new rules, businesses with more than 250 employees have to report the extent of the pay gap by April 2018. So far 263 firms have responded out of an expected 9,500 eligible.
In its report, EasyJet, which in Carolyn McCall has had a female chief executive officer for the past seven years, wrote that the discrepancy is “strongly influenced” by the salaries and gender make-up of
its pilot community, which accounts for more than a quarter of its UK employees.
“Pilots are predominantly male and the higher salaries, relative to other employees, significantly increases the average male pay at EasyJet,” the Luton, England-based carrier said.
The average salary of an EasyJet pilot is 92,400 pounds ($123,000) compared with 24,800 pounds
for cabin crew and almost £54,000 for management.
The gap between men’s and women’s pay at EasyJet is higher than what’s been disclosed so far by financial-services companies including Virgin Money, Aldermore and TSB Banking Group Plc, which are all around the 30 percent level. Last week the Bank of England reported a 21 percent average gap.
EasyJet said it has selected 49 female new entrant co-pilots in the past 12 months, an increase of 48 percent compared with the previous year. CEO McCall is poised to leave the company to run broadcaster ITV Plc.