International Women’s Day takes on special significance at Mackay Airport this year with North Queensland Airports now boasting more female representation in executive management roles than any airport in Australia.
Chief Executive Officer Richard Barker said the increase in women in senior roles at the airports reflected the calibre and talent of many women in aviation.
“Mackay Airport is committed to developing a more diverse and inclusive workforce, not only at senior management level, but more broadly in the many varied roles across the airport.
“The increase in workforce participation of women across our airports and our airport communities is something that has steadily improved over recent years.
“’Sixty-five per cent of senior management roles at North Queensland Airports are held by women and there’s no doubt that this gender-diversity has fostered greater creativity and innovation across our organisation and our ongoing success.”
Mr Barker said the last three appointments to the executive were internal promotions, a great credit to the skills and expertise that exists within the team.
The increased participation of females in the workplace had been largely attributed to the growing flexibility of the organisation and the formalisation of working from home arrangements for some employees.
“Mackay Airport committed to keeping all employees last year when COVID hit and as we began to return to the office, we quickly learned the importance of developing more flexibility for our employees, especially working parents. This is something I’m incredibly proud of,” Mr Barker said.
While NQA is punching above its weight in female participation, Mr Barker said International Women’s Day was a great opportunity to promote to the wider community the incredible opportunities available in aviation both for men and women.
“International Women’s Day is a great opportunity for us to recognise the contribution of women across our airports and how far we’ve come.
“Aviation is undoubtedly one industry that is proudly leading the way in gender parity, and those benefits are evident to me every day”, Mr Barker said.
