At Magnus, women have a key role in operations. At our company, 20% of employees are women - not only in office positions, but also in manufacturing and development. An important goal for our company is to continuously increase the share of women in the workforce. We aim to reach a 30% female quota by the end of 2022.
We are pleased to see that the presence and role of women in aviation is growing globally. According to the latest available data (2020), nearly 59,000 female pilots fly the world’s skies every day, which is about 9% of the number of pilots. However, the proportion of female pilot candidates is already stronger in training, with more than 31 thousand female candidates.
Many people do not know, but women have been active participants of aviation since the beginning. One such pioneer was E. Lillian Toddt, who designed and built an airplane in 1906, or Helen Richey, who in 1934 became the first female pilot on a U.S. commercial airline. And Amelia Mary Earhart’s story is probably known to everyone who was a true international female pilot hero. Women play a variety of roles in the industry, Soviet astronaut Valentyina Vladimirovna Tyereskova was the first woman in outer space. She boarded the Vostok-6 in 1963, while at the end of the 20th century, astronaut Eileen Collins became the first female space shuttle commander.
In 1994, the Women in Aviation International (WAI), an international non-profit organization with more than 15,000 members worldwide, was established, including aviation professionals, students and fans. Thanks to a strong commitment to promoting women in the aviation industry, WAI has become widely known and is working with NASA, among other important aviation organizations.