In a recent tweet, Hardeep Singh Puri, the Union Civil Aviation Minister claimed that India had the most number of women pilots globally. According to him, the global average is 5 per cent whereas Indian airlines employ about 12.4 per cent, female pilots.
“Women power soars high! 210 women pilots including 103 captains are a part of the Air India family. AAI is efficiently women-led by 507 women Air Traffic Controllers,” he says in another tweet.
Rajya Sabha’s Minister of State for Civil Aviation Gen. Dr VK Singh (Retd) said, “Globally, according to the International Society of Women Airline Pilots, around 5 per cent of pilots are women. In India, the share of women pilots is significantly higher-over 15 per cent. As per the information available with the e-governance of civil aviation, out of the 17,726 registered pilots in India, the number of women pilots is 2,764”.
Issuing award letters for nine new Flying Training Organizations (FTO) at five airport authorities of India with rationalized land charges, digitization of approval process at the regulator DGCA and greater empowerment of flying instructions, are the key initiatives taken by the Indian chapter of Aviation International along with the ministry, which will help in increasing female participation in the civil aviation.
“I am quite proud of the fact that Indian has one of the highest female pilot percentages in the world. And Indian aviation has embraced it wholeheartedly. Every time we run a flight to the United States or Europe, people at the airport exclaim, “Wow” seeing us. I’m proud to be a part of the company that values talent regardless of gender. Air India has a large number of female pilots, and they are taken aback when they see two female senior captains flying alongside two junior first officers. Being a woman has never made me feel discriminated against. I put in a lot of effort and have received a lot of praise and admiration for it. It’s no surprise that one of our instructors on 777 right now is a senior lady,” says Air India’s captain Swati Raval.
