26-year-old British woman is the world's youngest airliner captain
26-year-old Briton Kate McWilliams from Carlisle is the world's youngest captain of a passenger airliner. The rising star of the British low-cost airline easyJet has been flying the plane since the age of 13, when she became a cadet at a flight school. Kate made her first independent flight when she was 16 years old.
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Just 10 years after the first experience of self-flying an airplane in her life, Kate McWilliams proved that she really is a high-flying bird, becoming the world's youngest captain of a passenger airliner.
The pilot of the budget airline easyJet was promoted to the position of captain at just 26 years old, although pilots usually achieve such an increase in much older years.
Kate has been in aviation since she was 13. Then she became a cadet at the school at the flight school. She made her first independent flight at the age of 16, and at the age of 19 she entered the university as a civil aviation pilot.
Kate says that many colleagues are still surprised by her success at such an early age. And some particularly impressionable passengers even have suspicions about whether she is capable of leading the crew of an aircraft. "Personally, I think my age doesn't matter at all. I went through the same training as all the other pilots and captains of civil aviation aircraft, and proved that I control the aircraft no worse than my older colleagues," says Kate.
"I am asked almost every day about how old I am. Most of the questions come from my colleagues, but sometimes passengers are also interested in this. When they find out my age, they are very surprised, and some even admire the success I have achieved at such a young age. It is interesting that I was not asked such questions when I was a senior assistant," Kate said.
Kate flies on Airbus 319 and Airbus 320 passenger planes, and her routes run to a hundred cities around the world, including Reykjavik, Tel Aviv and Marrakech. "easyJet has such an extensive network of routes from Gatwick Airport that I rarely fly to the same city twice a month. And this to some extent retains interest in the profession. I like being a pilot of a passenger plane, and I am glad that I was able to satisfy my ambitions by becoming a captain," Kate shared.
According to statistics, women make up only 5% of civil aviation pilots. Last year, the airline easyJet announced a campaign to gradually bring the proportion of women among the pilots of its aircraft to 12%.
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