To mark International Women’s Day, the first commercial passenger flight to Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh operated by an all-woman crew was flagged off from the Delhi airport by Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday.
In a tweet, Puri said Indian carriers employ close to 12.4% women pilots. “India tops in the proportion of women pilots than any other nation. Indian carriers employ close to 12.4% women pilots, which is much higher than the world average of 5.4%,” Puri tweeted. In another tweet, the aviation minister said: “Women power soars high! 210 women pilots including 103 captains are a part of the Air India family. AAI is efficiently women-ed by 507 women Air Traffic Controllers.”
The percentage of female pilots in India is twice as high as in most Western countries, including the United States and Australia. Globally, less than 5 per cent of pilots are women, according to the International Society of Women Airline Pilots.
Meanwhile, in a statement, the civil aviation ministry said that the Bareilly airport has been upgraded for commercial flight operations under the regional connectivity scheme – Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik (RCS-UDAN) of the Government of India.
The all-woman crew operated Alliance Air’s Delhi-Bareilly inaugural flight on International Women’s Day, it said.