easyJet: Inside the Cockpit

Series 1 - Episode 1

Review

by Jane Rackham

The seat belt sign is on because you’re in for a bumpy ride. Actually, nervous flyers should probably not watch at all, because this doc reveals that easyJet has more than 300 rookie pilots about to take the controls for the first time. Obviously, they’ve had a couple of years of training in the flight school classroom and on flight simulators, but at some point they have to take off for real.

They look frighteningly young. One fresh-faced lad admits that even airport security was surprised when they saw from his passport he was born in 1996. What’s maybe less surprising is that only three per cent of pilots are women.

Summary

Brits took more flights than ever before in 2016 and with air travel increasing there is now a worldwide shortage of pilots and easyJet has launched its largest-ever recruitment drive, including a focus on encouraging more women to apply. This documentary following new recruits for airline easyJet as they train to become fully qualified pilots, going inside the cockpit and tracking the candidates from the classroom to the simulator, and eventually to their first flight with hundreds of paying passengers. Stephen Fry narrates.