According to the Federal Aviation Administration, only 6.3% of 96,000 commercial pilots were women in the USA in 2016.

Qatar Airways later issued a formal statement from Al Baker, who has run the airline since 1997.

“While I am known in the media for some lightheartedness at press conferences, it is crucial that I emphasise the facts as I did today and the importance of women representatives in the airline industry,” he said.

“Qatar Airways firmly believes in gender equality in the workplace and our airline has been a pioneer in our region in this regard, as the first airline to employ female pilots, as one of the first to train and employ female engineers, and with females represented through to senior vice president positions within the airline. With a female work force of more than 33%, as I mentioned today, it would be my pleasure if I could help develop a female candidate to be the next CEO of Qatar Airways.”

After the government called for companies with over 250 employees to publish a gender pay gap report, issues were highlighted in the airline sector in the UK. EasyJet’s median hourly rate for women was 46% lower than for men, and Ryanair’s was 72% lower.

You can read more on the gender pay gap here.

Images: Unsplash / Getty

This airline chief says women can’t do his “challenging” job