NewDelhi: The world is celebrating the International Women’s Day today, on March 8, 2023, honouring the females from across the globe. India’s aviation industry has a large role to play in celebrating womanhood. India has the highest number of female commercial airline pilots as compared any part of the world. In India, over 15 percent of pilots are female, which is way above the global average of 5 percent. Not just commercial airline pilots, but the Indian Air Force is quickly inducting large number of female fighter jet and helicopter pilots, prominent among those being Avani Chaturvedi, who is not only among the first female fighter jet pilots, but also the first woman pilot to take part in wargame abroad.
Back in February 2022, speaking in the Lok Sabha, Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said that 15 per cent of total pilot strength in the country are women. Scindia said, “In all other countries in the world, only 5 per cent of the pilots is female. In India, over 15 percent of pilots are female. This is another example of women empowerment. There has been a lot of changes in the aviation industry in the last 20-25 years.”
This means, India has the highest ratio of female commercial pilots as compared to any other country in the world, including the most progressive aviation markets including the United States and Europe. As per the data compiled by the International Society of Women Airline Pilots 2020, India has the highest ratio of female pilots in the world leading the list with 12.4 percent female commercial pilots as opposed to other nations.
Next in line is Ireland with distant 9.9 percent female pilots. The data was compiled more than an year ago and since then, the number has further increased. The survey further revealed that smaller regional airlines are the biggest employer of female pilots with 13.9 percent gender ratio, while cargo airlines have the least ratio at 8.5 percent in India.
Globally, Ireland is second, closely followed by South Africa at third with 9.8 percent female pilots, while Canada is at fourth with distant 6.9 percent ratio. The fifth one is Germany with 6.9 percent as well. On the other side, countries like the US and the UK have only 5.4 and 4.7 percent female flight officers respectively.
Air India, a Tata owned airline recently stated that 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.
Bureau Report
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