‘Happy Women’s Day... We are now 22,000 feet above sea level,’ an affable voice announced on board AI-263, bound to Thiruvananthapuram, via Bangalore, from Chennai.
The voice was that of M. Deepa who was in command of the flight manned by an all-woman crew, and had an all-woman journalist group from Chennai, as part of Air India’s celebration of International Women’s Day. Apart from Capt. Deepa, there was First Officer Nimisha Goel in the cockpit, and Y. Radhika conducted the engineering certification for the flight.
Ms. Radhika works as a senior aircraft engineer, a field that was still largely male-dominated, she said. She was the only girl in a class of 10 at her institute, during training.
When asked if it had been a deterrent, she said, “If a man needs a stool to reach a part of the aircraft, I probably need a taller stool. Other than that, there is no difference. We need tools and a few enabling factors to do our job and both sexes have to overcome limitations.”
Meenakshi Dua, executive director, Air India (southern region), said Air India had over 160 women pilots, including 25 from the southern region, flying its fleet.
“There are equal opportunities for all, and I urge women to come forward,” she said, adding, earlier there were challenges such as getting women to work late shifts, or come to airports, as some were located far away. “But if the organisation is supportive, women do come forward,” she said.
On Saturday, the Airbus A321 had 85 passengers on board, including the journalists.
