A British Airways pilot hoping to inspire more women to take on the role says she realised her dream of flying passenger jets only after ignoring teachers’ advice to get an office job.
First Officer Hannah Vaughan battled to get information on flying during careers advice at school in Derbyshire, where she was told working in an office was a realistic prospect. But her persistence paid off when she won a place on BA’s cadet programme.
The airline covered the £100,000 cost of her two-year training and the 27-year-old, of Kingston-upon-Thames, now flies Airbus A320s across Europe. She hopes to become one of the industry’s very few female captains. Ms Vaughan was speaking as BA launched a drive to recruit more female pilots ahead of its centenary in 2019. Of its 4,300 pilots, 300 are women — nearly double the industry average, at 7 per cent.
Ms Vaughan said: “I dreamed of being a pilot. The most difficult part was finding a route into it. When I was 16, my dad took me to an air show and he donated to the Royal Air Force benevolent fund so I could get work experience with the RAF. When I brought the paperwork to school, they had already organised me something at an office. I said, ‘I don’t want to do that’. I went to the RAF for a week and loved it.”
Ms Vaughan had hoped to train with the RAF then retire to join an airline, but she missed out on a trainee post. However, her mother Alison saw an advert for BA’s Future Pilots Cadet Programme offering sponsorship.
After her training, including eight months in New Zealand, she said: “Mum, Dad and my sister all booked on my first BA passenger flight to Geneva … it was nerve-wracking.”
She now hopes to inspire other women to become pilots and said: “My message to girls is: you can do this.”
- Visit careers.ba.com
