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Female pilots, step forward!

Hardy GraupnerAugust 22, 2013

Germany's flag carrier has announced that it will redouble its efforts to attract more female pilots for its passenger and cargo fleet. The airline is fighting a misconception the job might not really be for women.

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Lufthansa female pilots in action
Image: Roland Fischer, Lufthansa

On Thursday, Lufthansa announced that it would launch a campaign to lure more female pilots to work for Germany's No. 1 airline.

The carrier reported that only 20 percent of all applications currently came from women and that many potential candidates obviously still believed that te job was better suited for men.

Lufthansa currently employs some 300 female pilots, with about 80 percent of them in action as flight captains. However, these account for only 6 percent of all female pilots in the service of Lufthansa, Lufthansa Cargo and the low-budget subsidiary, Germanwings.

Glass ceiling in the sky

Learning with Lufthansa

The world's first female pilot was Raymonde de Laroche, who got her license from the Aero Club de France on March 8, 1919.

Nicola Lisy started working as Lufthansa's first female co-pilot back in 1988. On January 1, 2000, she made history as the airline's first female flight captain, after 12 years of experience in the cockpits of Boeing 737 and Boeing 747 aircraft.

According to Lufthansa, men and women are treated equally in the application process and training, as well as as employees.