Manchester Airports Group launches new EDI strategy

Manchester Airports Group has published a new Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Strategy, Every Journey Matters, that sets out approach to becoming a leader in inclusivity in the aviation sector.

The Strategy sets out the MAG’s commitment to giving a voice to underrepresented talent and to embedding EDI into the culture of the organisation through inclusive leadership.

MAG is the UK’s largest airports group which owns and operates Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands airports, alongside digital travel services business CAVU. The Group employs more than 7,000 people and supports more than 40,000 jobs across the UK.

Every Journey Matters is built on four strategic pillars. These pillars work to ensure that every voice across MAG feels heard, that inclusion is embedded into how the business operates, that colleagues feel equipped and empowered to make inclusion part of everything they do, and that MAG is setting the pace for EDI in the aviation sector.

The Strategy also outlines the role MAG’s Colleague Communities play as critical business tools to drive inclusion forward. The Communities – which increase representation for underrepresented groups such as LGBTQIA+, UK Ethnic Minorities, people with disabilities, women and carers – offering deep insight into the lived experiences of people across the organisation.

The Group has also committed to number of targets to increase representation across over the coming decade, aiming to create a more diverse leadership population.

Manchester Airports Group Head of EDI Alicia McDonnell said:

“I am proud to welcome MAG’s new EDI Strategy: Every Journey Matters. It has been created with our people at its core, and is focused on ensuring that all colleagues across MAG feel represented and valued regardless of their identity, belief, background, characteristics or role.

“This Strategy creates opportunity for individuality while building a shared culture of inclusion across MAG. It takes a targeted approach which is focused on leveraging difference, removing barriers and enabling everybody to take their own journey.

“Achieving inclusive excellence is important not only to the experience of our colleagues – it is fundamental to the success of our business.

“I look forward to collaborating with colleagues across our business and the wider aviation sector to deliver on our ambitions to create a more inclusive future.”

The Strategy has been launched as part of MAG’s activities to celebrate National Inclusion Week. Yesterday, the Group launched its UK-first EDI forum ‘Aviation for All’, which brings together sector partners as well as skills and employment organisations to share best practice to accelerate EDI. Founding partners of the forum include TUI, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Inclusive Employers, Pure Innovations, and Fantasy Wings.

A new colleague centred initiative called Kind Cafés was also launched. Hosted in the heart of the operations across all three MAG airports, the Kind Cafés aim to bridge the inclusion gap between front-line and office-based colleagues. The sessions were led by MAG’s Colleague Communities who met with operational colleagues to speak about how they could join and get involved in their activities.