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Hundreds of passengers hoping fly out of Gatwick on the airport’s busiest-ever day for departures have had their flights cancelled.
Landings were suspended In the early hours of Friday morning after a British Airways flight arrived from Naples with a hydraulic leak.
The Airbus A320 landed safely with no injuries but fire trucks were called out to attend the incident.
A spokesperson for BA said: “Our flight landed safely after our pilots requested a priority landing as a precaution after a technical fault.
“The safety of our customers and crew is always our top priority, and our engineers are currently conducting a thorough check of the aircraft.”
While the runway was closed, one easyJet flight from Corfu was diverted to Luton, and another from Paphos went to Birmingham.
As a result of the aircraft being out of position, easyJet flights to Madrid and Munich this morning have been cancelled.
Elsewhere, the main issue affecting airline is the strike by pilots employed by Ryanair in Ireland.
Twenty-six flights to and from Dublin have been grounded, including multiple cancellations serving Birmingham, Edinburgh, Gatwick and Manchester.
Round-trips to Glasgow, Liverpool, Newcastle and Stansted have also been grounded.
Further cancellations are expected on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday next week, as cabin crew in Europe join the pilots in industrial action.
Gatwick had been expecting 86,000 outbound passengers on Friday, though that figure will be reduced by the cancellations.
On the railways, commuters and long-distance travellers on the Midland Mainline from London St Pancras to Luton face delays and possible cancellations after a large branch got caught in the overhead electric wires between Radlett and St Albans station.
“As a result, trains will be diverted on to alternative lines until the branch has been removed,” said Network Rail.
Travellers with cheaper off-peak tickets on Virgin Trains will be able to use them at any time after the morning rush. The train operator has relaxed its normal peak rules for afternoon and evening travel every Friday until the end of August.
Drivers have been warned to stay off the roads between midday and early evening on Friday. The M25, M6, M5, M1 and M20 are expected to be extremely busy.
Four female pilots discuss life on the flightdeckShow all 4 1 /4Four female pilots discuss life on the flightdeck Four female pilots discuss life on the flightdeck Jessica Sundquist: 787 Dreamliner captain at Norwegian Jessica Sundquist, a Swedish 787 Dreamliner captain for Norwegian, has spoken extensively about being a woman in the industry. In the past she’s spoken about the concept of “putting your femininity aside” in order to succeed. Sundquist says today that she felt she “didn’t have to do it”, but also wanted to fit into the industry “without being known as ‘the girl’”. Today, times are changing, she says, and more women are joining the industry – but it’s not all good news. “Despite working hard to get to where I am today as a captain at one of the most modern and exciting airlines, the industry still has a lot more work to do to give women more opportunities,” she says In the future, she’d like the discussion on gender inequality to remain “open and ongoing”, but argues that real action also needs to take place to make any difference.
Norwegian
Four female pilots discuss life on the flightdeck Joanna Riggs: A380 first officer at British Airways First officer Joanna Riggs says she was never “particularly exposed to aviation as a career choice”, but became a BA cabin crew member after university in order to see more of the world. She says that entering such a highly male-dominated profession wasn’t daunting, but that she felt “lucky to have two other females” on her course. Colleagues have always been supportive in Riggs’ experience as have – for the most part – passengers, though some are “surprised” when they see a female pilot. “I hope it will one day be normal to everyone,” she adds. Some passengers give a “thumbs up or a girl power sign”. As for gender differences on the flight deck, Riggs says, “We are very professional on the flight deck so it doesn’t matter what the gender, race or sexuality of my colleague is. “Flying with a fellow female is always a treat though. My brother is also a British Airways pilot, and although I haven’t flown with him, I get the feeling we would be very similar.
British Airways
Four female pilots discuss life on the flightdeck Lucy Tardrew: Boeing 747 captain at Virgin Atlantic Lucy Tardrew had always wanted to join the RAF, she says, but it was never allowed to happen – because ”they weren’t taking girls at the time”. Instead, she travelled to America, where she trained before becoming a flying instructor. After returning to the UK and converting her licences, she began flying night mail – “literally all the posts around the country at night” – before stints flying executive jets, and last-minute jobs including air ambulances and freighting transplant organs, before joining Virgin 23 years ago. Tardrew is enthusiastic about the company, but is saddened that the ratio of women in the industry as a whole remains low. As for challenges in the workplace, she’s never experienced any discrimination. Noting the rare pay equality in the piloting industry, Tardrew feels the reason there aren’t more female pilots is down to the fact that ”there aren’t enough female role models for schoolchildren to think, ‘I’m going to become an airline pilot’.”
Virgin Atlantic
Four female pilots discuss life on the flightdeck Kate McWilliams: captain at easyJet At 26, Kate McWilliams became the youngest commercial captain in the world. “I love being a captain for easyJet,” she says. “And I’m really happy to be working for an airline that is working hard to increase the number of female pilots.” Flying was always her goal – but she didn’t realise how far she could take it. “I joined the air cadets at 13-years-old, but it wasn’t until much later that I realised I could become a commercial pilot,” she says. “EasyJet is aiming to inspire young women, with the Amy Johnson Flying Initiative and their sponsorship of the Brownies, giving girls aged seven to 10 the opportunity to earn an Aviation Badge. The work it’s doing is really important.” The Amy Johnson Flying Initiative was launched in October 2015 with the aim of doubling the number of female new entrant pilots, to 12 per cent, over a two-year period. After achieving its aim in the first year, the airline set a target of 20 per cent for new entrant cadet pilots in 2020.
easyJet
Dover is expecting its busiest weekend of the summer on Saturday and Sunday. Motorists heading for the south of France on Saturday are warned that traffic conditions will be “very difficult”.
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