AI flies 90+ all-women services for IWD and JRD Tata’s first commercial flight anniv

Mumbai:  The Air India, Air India Express and AirAsia India have operated at least 90 all-women flights to mark the International Women’s Day (March 8) and the 90th anniversary celebrations of Bharat Ratna J. R. D. Tata’s historical first commercial flight of October 15, 1932, an official said here.

The flights were launched from March 1, covering both national and international routes as a tribute to the spirit of women power with the theme of ‘DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality’.

The flights have all women as the cockpit crew and the cabin staff at 12 global destinations and most domestic routes, as AI’s 40 per cent workforce comprises women, of 1825 pilots, 275 are women (15 per cent).

“India has the largest number of women commercial pilots in the world with more pursuing careers in aviation enabling us achieve gender equality in the workforce,” said AI CEO and Managing Director Campbell Wilson.

Similarly, Aloke Singh, the CEO of Air India Express and the President AirAsia India, said that the low-cost AI subsidiaries have a total of 97 women pilots and more than one-third of its workforce comprising women across departments.

The all-women flights are served by women dispatchers, safety and quality auditors, loaders, engineers and security personnel also.

These 90-plus flights are on domestic sectors, plus international routes like the Gulf region, United Kingdom, Male, Melbourne, Toronto, Paris, New York, etc.

AI had operated the world’s first all-women flight on the Delhi-San Francisco and another Bengaluru-San Francisco flight charting the Polar route.

On IWD, the AI has organised connected programmes like ‘Ally at Work’, medical check-ups for breast cancer using AI-led technology, felicitation of artist G. S. Smitha whose work is imprinted on the airline’s tail art, an all women bike rally, and red carpet priority services for women travellers booking on AirAsia India flights between March 8-15.

–IANS