EasyJet has re-imagined scenes from ‘80s blockbuster Top Gun to tackle job stereotypes and inspire more young people to consider careers in aviation.
The new parody film titled ‘Calling all Mavericks’ sees roles reversed, with Maverick and Goose played by seven year-old Rei Diec and nine-year-old Oliva Joohee Ridington, supported by a cast of cabin crew, engineers and ground operations staff.
The film, shot at Luton airport with a cast of children of easyJet staff aged between seven and 12, recreates some of Top Gun’s most iconic moments, including Tom Cruise’s motorbike scene, the classroom, and the ‘It’s time to buzz the tower’ scene.
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The campaign follows new research which reveals that Britons believe gender stereotypes are still plaguing Hollywood films and limiting children’s job aspirations.
The study of 3,000 British parents and their children reveals almost four in five (79%) believe Hollywood still perpetuates gender stereotypes when it comes to job roles for men and women.
By re-shooting scenes from the classic 1986 film, the budget airline hopes to enable more young people to consider roles such as pilots, engineers and in operations.
The poll found that 85% of British parents still believe there are misconceptions that a pilot is a job for men and nearly half (48%) of 1,500 female respondents said they never considered a job as airline pilot as they thought it was a job for a man when they were younger.
The same misconceptions were also revealed as applying to other jobs in the industry including engineers (83%) and operations (75%).
Nearly 90% of women polled said that pre-conceptions of jobs for men and women started at school, and 88% also said that seeing men playing protagonist roles in technical jobs such as pilots in films and TV reinforced stereotypes.
Of the children surveyed, nearly two thirds (60%) said they thought a pilot was a job for a boy, while almost half 43% have still never come across a female pilot.
EasyJet has been consciously trying to tackle an industry-wide gender imbalance for a number of years and has doubled the number of female pilots in its ranks since 2015. Just 6% of pilots worldwide are women.
The airline is set to be flying near pre-pandemic levels this summer, with many newly qualified female pilots joining in recent months.
Its pilot training programme was recently reopened for the first time since the pandemic to attract 1,000 new pilots over the next five years.
Chief executive Johan Lundgren said: “Top Gun is one of the most famous aviation films of all time. So, we wanted to create our own rendition of the movie that was both entertaining and inspiring to a younger audience, to show young people that they don’t have to be limited by outdated stereotypes of jobs in the industry, as well as highlight the fantastic career opportunities that easyJet has to offer.
“EasyJet has long championed greater diversity across our business and the industry, and while we have made important progress in areas like our pilot community, there is still work to do.
“Increasing diversity in all of its forms across our airline and creating an inclusive environment where people can be themselves at work is incredibly important to us and is a long-term focus for easyJet, so we will continue to ensure we lead the industry on this issue.”
Photo: Joe Pepler/PinPep
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