AI ‘will open new jobs for women in aviation industry’

Artificial intelligence will create new jobs in aviation that can help more women access opportunities in this traditionally male-dominated sector, industry experts have said.

The increasing use of AI technologies in the aviation industry will change the future of the job market, panellists said at the Airport Show in Dubai.

This shift will open more career opportunities for women in the cockpit, air traffic control towers, safety regulation bodies and beyond, they predicted.

“AI is not going to bring something specifically for women that is different to a man, it does not differentiate … We need to look at it differently,” said Laila bin Hareb Almheiri, founder and chief executive of aviation consultancy Alive Group.

“AI will totally shift the way we look at careers in different fields and aviation is no different … so the jobs will be different in aviation in future … some jobs will be eliminated and some jobs will be created in the future, so as women we need to look at what opportunities are lying in the future when AI is going to be implemented more and more,” she said.

The discussion comes as the aviation industry remains under scrutiny for the slow progress on gender parity at the top echelons. Among 123 listed carriers tracked by Bloomberg, women typically hold just 13 per cent of executive posts, less than the 16 per cent in financial services for example.

Twenty-two airlines do not have female executives at all.

In 2019, the International Air Transport Association launched its 25by2025 campaign, in which airlines pledged to raise the number of women in senior positions and underrepresented areas by 25 per cent, or to a minimum of 25 per cent by 2025.

The use of AI tools in the aviation industry can help to reduce gender bias in situations where decision-makers need to evaluate the work of women or hire qualified female talent, Malak Trabelsi Loeb, founder and chief executive of business consultancy Vernewell Group, said.

AI technologies can “help tremendously” in removing unconscious gender biases in recruitment and corporate systems, Noora Janahi, vice president of Women in Aviation International’s Bahrain chapter, said.

Saleha Ali Reza Badpa, DWC Tower operational training specialist at the Dubai Air Navigation Services, called for more women to join the industry.

“Women, come into the aviation field, whether it’s air traffic control, pilots, engineering – we need you.”