A study on women in the executive ranks of the world’s airlines encourages senior managements to assess their corporate cultures and attitudes towards women in high-level positions.
As competition and service standards converge and the industry’s core offering becomes commoditised, areas such as communication skills and social intelligence – where females have an edge according to many studies – will become increasingly vital.
The report, entitled “Why don’t women run airlines?â€, features in the October launch edition of new aviation management magazine Airline Leader.
In the first of a four-part series examining women in aviation, Airline Leader reviewed the profiles of over 200 airlines around the world, finding just 15 female CEOs/MDs, of which half are from low cost carriers (LCC).
Three LCC leaders are from Asia and three of Europe’s six female airline heads are at low cost operators.
Not one of North America’s low cost carrier CEOs is a woman; indeed there is no woman airline CEO among substantial airlines in any of the US contiguous states, or Canada, and just one in South America.
The report notes: “An airline that advances women may prosper (or not) because of the female presence – but more likely it is the broader culture which opens those doors for females that makes the company a more effective competitive entity.â€
The Airline Leader feature report on Women in Aviation may be downloaded in PDF format at this page: 
http://www.airlineleader.com/Issue-1-Feature-Article
