Gender & Diversity in Aviation: 2025 Report

2025 marks the tenth year of our focus on gender and diversity within the Aviation industry. We began the survey to highlight the under-representation of women in senior Aviation roles and to track how the sector has evolved.

“DEI has helped to get rid of the private school boys club that existed in Ireland previously and equivalent globally.” - survey respondent

This year’s findings show renewed progress in leadership diversity, with more organisations achieving balanced representation at board and C-suite level. However, inclusion and career progression continue to lag behind, and many companies have scaled back formal Diversity, Equity & Inclusion programmes.

Key Findings

Almost a quarter (24%) of companies now report more than 30% diversity representation in their C-suite. Board-level diversity has also improved, rising from 10% to 19%. Both measures had fallen steadily between 2021 and 2023. When the survey began in 2016, women held only 11% of leadership positions across the sector.

However, these senior-level gains have not extended through the pipeline. While nearly three-quarters (72%) of organisations reported internal promotions, only two in ten (20%) said men and women were promoted in equal numbers. That figure stood at 31% last year and peaked at 35% in 2019.

Read the 2025 Report

We are grateful to all respondents who shared their insights with us. Your feedback and comments ensure we can continue to monitor trends, assess current attitudes and highlight the evolving diversity profile of the Aviation industry.

“Our culture of not disclosing salaries / bonuses is hiding the huge difference between remuneration of men and women / minority groups.” - survey respondent

The survey was conducted during the summer and early autumn of 2025, with more than 100 industry professionals.

For more information and expert advice on any of the topics covered in the report, please contact a member of our Aviation & International Asset Finance team.