The boss of a leading travel recruitment firm has called on the industry to tackle the gender pay gap after the chief executive of easyJet took a voluntary reduction in salary.
Barbara Kolosinska, director at C&M Travel Recruitment, said: “There’s definitely a gap. A lot of companies need to address it.”
EasyJet’s Johan Lundgren opted to cut his £740,000 salary to match the £706,000 paid to his predecessor Dame Carolyn McCall.
Kolosinska cited the case of a senior female employee of a “well‑known travel company” who discovered she was earning £30,000 less than her male counterpart – and demanded a pay rise.
Kolosinska said women often have lower salary expectations than men with the same experience and “sometimes lack confidence”.
Jayne Peirce, founder of Jayne Peirce Travel Recruitment, said wages were negotiated on experience but she acknowledged that senior jobs remain “male dominated”.
Claire Muge, sales director at Travel Trade Recruitment, said questions would be asked of any firm that offered a female applicant less money for the same role as a male candidate.
“What we don’t see is whether it’s maybe easier for men to progress,” she added.
She said travel was “probably ahead of other industries” for equal pay because it has traditionally employed more women.
EasyJet has a gender pay gap of 51.7% which it put down to 94% of its pilots, who earn more than cabin crew, being male. The airline said “pay rates are the same for men and women”. It aims for 20% of pilot recruits to be female by 2020.
Lundgren said: “We are committed to equal pay and equal opportunity. I want that to apply to everybody and I have asked the board to reduce my pay to match Carolyn’s when she was at easyJet.”