Ahead of International Women’s Day (March 8), Sugg has called on airlines to “pledge action” to overcome the gender pay gap across the industry.

Women account for nearly half the national workforce, but just 6% of airline pilots are women.

“For every 100 airline pilots, 94 are male,” said Sugg. “With a shortage of pilots in the future, the aviation industry needs to be making the best use of the talent in this country.

“There are already some great industry initiatives, and ahead of International Women’s Day we are calling on the aviation industry to pledge action to address this gap.”

Last year, Sugg helped launch the Women in Aviation Charter, which commits to create a more balanced, fair industry for women.

She praised the efforts of easyJet to achieve its target of ensuring by 2020 that 20% of its new pilot intake are women.

Other ongoing initiatives include Flybe’s FlyShe campaign tackling gender stereotype. Stansted, meanwhile, is a signatory to the Women in Aviation Charter and has created a number of education programmes, including its Aerozone centre, to inspire girls and young women over the past three years.

“Encouraging more girls into aviation-related careers is something London Stansted fully supports, and we welcome the government’s drive to increase the number of women in these roles,” said airport HR director Liz Austin.

“Stansted Airport College was created to build a pipeline of future talent, and works hard to promote the many exciting opportunities open to girls in aviation, from engineering to cabin crew.

“Along with our Aerozone education centre for younger children, we’re proud of the part London Stansted is playing in inspiring the next generation of the aviation workforce and look forward to seeing an increase in the representation of women in all sectors.”