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