Virgin Australia Smashes Gender Target Pilot Cadetship Programme

This year's programme is 56 per cent female - an important step forward for gender diversity in the industry and a 200 per cent increase on the previous programme.

"Virgin Australia is committed to increasing gender diversity across all areas of our business and in particular the non-traditional roles of aviation. We are thrilled to have exceeded the gender target that we set for ourselves for the next intake of the pilot cadetship" said Virgin Australia Group Executive People, Lucinda Gemmell.

"Both the young men and women who have been accepted into the next program are all extremely passionate, talented individuals and we are very much looking forward to welcoming them all into the Virgin Australia family," Ms Gemmell said. "The future looks bright for this next generation of pilots, and we're excited to have the opportunity to play a part in the development of this promising group of cadets and welcome them to what is a very exciting industry."

The recruitment process is run over a 13-week period and involves rigorous academic and skills-based testing, designed to identify the most promising talent among all candidates. The cadetship will run for 54-weeks at Flight Training Adelaide in South Australia, where cadets are trained by some of the best instructors in the industry. At the end of their training, the cadets will graduate with a Commercial Pilot Licence and will be offered roles as certified First and Second Officers with Virgin Australia.