Air India says 15pc of its total pilots are female

Air India on Wednesday (March 8) said 15 per cent of its 1,825 pilots are women pilots, making it an airline with the largest number of female pilots.

To mark International Women's Day, the Tata Group-owned Air India, along with Air India Express and AirAsia India, has scheduled more than 90 all-women crew flights, and the carriers have been operating these all-women crew flights on international and domestic routes since March 1, according to a release.

"Of the 90+ flights operated by all-women cockpit and cabin crew, Air India is flying 40 flights across domestic and international locations, whereas AI Express is operating 10 all-international flights to the Gulf route and AirAsia India is operating over 40 flights within India," it said.

According to the carrier, women constitute over 40 per cent of Air India's workforce, with 275 of its 1,825 pilots being women, representing 15 per cent of the cockpit crew strength and making it an airline having one of the largest numbers of female pilots.

Air India CEO and Managing Director Campbell Wilson said India has the largest number of commercial women pilots in the world.

"With more Indian women pursuing careers in aviation, we are achieving gender equality in the workforce. We are proud of the women workforce with us at Air India today, and we thank each of them for sending out a powerful message that women can excel in any field," he said.

At Air India Express and AirAsia India, over a third of the workforce comprises women.

"Several women play a key role in various departments, including in the domains of finance, commercial, human resources, customer happiness, flight training, technology, flight dispatch, engineering, safety and operations control. The two airlines have a total of 97 women pilots," the release said.

-B