Airline EasyJet has launched a recruitment drive aimed at people over the age of 45 to join their cabin crews.
The new campaign follows research by EasyJet which suggested most over-45s would like to take on a new challenge once their children have left home.
Parents whose children have left the family home or have started their own careers and anyone looking for a new career later in life are among those being encouraged to apply.
The recruitment drive has been launched with a series of adverts featuring real-life cabin crew who have joined easyJet in the past year.
EMBARGOED TO 0001 THURSDAY NOVEMBER 24 EDITORIAL USE ONLY (Left to right) Mike Tear, aged 57, Eva Lewis, aged 48, Peter Wanless, aged 68, Neil Brown, aged 59 and Gary Fellowes, aged 63 feature in a new recruitment campaign from easyJet, which is encouraging people over 50 or parents of older children to apply for roles with the airline, Gatwick, London. Issue date: Thursday November 24, 2022.
Matt Alexander
The airline said it has seen a 27% increase in cabin crew over the age of 45 in the last four years, including a 30% increase in people over 60 in the last year.
The air travel industry was brought to a standstill in 2020, with EasyJet suffering it worst ever fiscally performing year in its history after travel restriction were implemented due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The budget airline also suffered problems recruiting staff post-pandemic, leading to flights being cancelled and thousands of seats being cut from flight due to a lack of staff.
The workforce has been shrinking across the air travel industry, caused by both a slowdown in immigration and thousands of workers taking early retirement or simply leaving the labour market during the pandemic.
Leading EasyJet to turn to an older generation of workers, launching the recruitment campaign featuring recent recruits aged 48 to 63.
EMBARGOED TO 0001 THURSDAY NOVEMBER 24 EDITORIAL USE ONLY (Left to right) Mike Tear, aged 58, Peter Wanless, aged 68, and Gary Fellowes, aged 63, feature in a new recruitment campaign from easyJet, which is encouraging people over 50 or parents of older children to apply for roles with the airline, Gatwick, London. Issue date: Thursday November 24, 2022.
Doug Peters
Michael Brown, director of cabin services for EasyJet, said: “Our people are at the heart of everything we do and it’s the warm welcome and fantastic customer service that our cabin crew are famous for.
"This campaign is about challenging stereotypes about the job and showing that being cabin crew can be a job for anyone with the right skills, no matter what their age," easyJet's director of cabin services Michael Brown said in an email.
We wanted to tap into this and encourage more talented people looking for a career change later in life."
