The Air Traffic Navigation Services (ATNS) recently participated in the first ever Global Aviation Gender Summit. Approximately 500 industry leaders from across the globe were convening at The Cape Town Convention Centre from today, 8 August 2018 till Friday 10 August 2018.
The Aviation industry is a trillion-dollar industry worldwide and employs approximately 62 million people worldwide. In order for growth and development, there is a need to improve efficiency and effectiveness in both national and international sectors. One of the main areas of improvement and development that has been earmarked by the aviation industry, is creating an environment that is more gender balanced and provides for equal opportunity for females in the sector.
The Global Aviation Gender Summit provided an opportunity for women across the globe and from various walks within the industry to look at gender-based issues within the workplace and establish positive processes and steps that will improve the gender balance and create powerful initiatives that will empower women in the aviation industry.
ATNS exhibited their Woman Development Program (WDP) at the summit. The WDP is a strategic focus on the development of women. “ATNS recognises the strategic imperative to provide for and focus on the development and growth of women in the workplace, and it is my long-term strategy to facilitate the appropriate representation of women on all levels of the organization in line with the ATNS Employment Equity Plan,” said Thabani Mthiyane, ATNS CEO.
Tendani Ndou, Principal of the ATNS Training Academy was one of the guest speakers at the summit and addressed various gender issues, including the definition of gender equity, gender roles and relations, the influence of socialising agents on gender roles, the status quo of gender equity in the Aviation industry and how to overcome gender bias. “It is time that we dissect the core of the gender inequality issues, not only in the aviation industry but across all sectors,” said Tendani Ndou
The summit was hosted by the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) in cooperation with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a United Nations agency responsible for managing civil aviation activities across the world.