Women who keep the Maharaja flying high

Aviation remains male-dominated more than 100 years after Wright brothers made the first air machine

Captain Trisha Mohan is amused every time air traffic control addresses her. The only woman flying a Boeing 747 in India, she is called Sir by ground staff. “I find it amusing but it doesn't stay on the mind. At that moment, it's only the flight operation that matters,” says Mohan, who piloted Air India (AI) planes for 20 years.

Aviation remains male-dominated more than 100 years after the Wright brothers made the first powered heavier-than-air machine to achieve sustained flight with a pilot aboard. Cut to 2017, women are only three per cent in primary roles (such as pilots and chief engineers) in airlines across the world. On February 26, an all-women, 16-member crew of Air India assembled at the dispatch unit of Delhi airport. It was a usual day, except that these women were embarking on a historic journey. Led by Captain Kshamta Bajpai and Captain Sunita Narula, the all-women team was going to fly from Delhi to San Francisco, a journey of 15,300 km, and back. “When we were walking towards the aircraft, I remember a mother pointing at us and telling her daughter to become like us,” says Narula, a pilot for 30 years.

The Boeing 777-200LR covered 15,300 km in 15 hours and 10 minutes, crossing 13 time zones. It flew over the Pacific Ocean to reach San Francisco and returned over the Atlantic Ocean. The return flight, which landed on March 3, covered nearly 14,000 km and took 15 and a half hours. Wind patterns made the return flight take more time. “When we touched down at Delhi, there was a sense of achievement,” says Bajpai, who has in her 20-year career with Air India flown Airbus and Boeing commercial planes. “Despite having done long-haul flights in the past, we were breaking stereotypes with this flight, probably giving wings to the dreams of many children.”

The lead cabin crew member, Bandukwala Nishin, says: “There were 250 passengers and all of them were ecstatic to know they were part of such a historic event. As soon as the captain made this announcement, everyone clapped.”

AI had its first woman pilot in 1956 when Captain Durba Banerjee was inducted in the erstwhile Indian Airlines. In 1990, Captain Nivedita Bhasin became the youngest pilot in civil aviation history to command a jet aircraft. “Of course it was difficult. When I joined, I was the third woman pilot the airline had. I hope such milestones attract more women to join aviation,” says Bhasin, referring to the all-women flight. There is no legal gender discrimination but the greatest hurdle is convincing a fellow male colleague of one's potential, say the pilots. Narula remembers her initial years in the 1980. “I was a young lady in my 20s and all the line pilots were men in their 40s. They were very apprehensive about my abilities. Everything became normal only after a few flights.” Family pressure and archaic rules still make commercial flying difficult for a woman. Once a pilot or cabin crew member’s pregnancy is confirmed, she is grounded throughout the maternity period on medical grounds, according to Air India rules. They can’t fly immediately after delivery. “The 135-day maternity leave is far less than required. A woman is grounded throughout her pregnancy and can’t fly immediately after delivery. I had to take 18 months’ leave without pay. What about single others who don’t have anyone to support her?” asks a woman pilot.

Maternity also impacts career progression. If a woman is called for a commander’s training course and if she can’t attend it due to pregnancy, it’s a long wait before her turn comes up again. Her hours of flying experience also suffer when she takes a year’s leave. “We fall behind our male and female counterparts in terms of flying hours,” the pilot says.

Women also say long, erratic work hours and staying away from loved ones is stress-inducing. “Staying away from my family was really difficult,” says Bhasin. But, these women pilots say they have no regret on profession. “We are seeing more and more women. The environment has also become more favourable,” says Harpreet Singh, chief of flight safety at AI and president of the Indian Women's Pilots Association.