On the occasion of International Women’s Day on March 8, Air India operated 52 flights with an all-women crew. These included 12 all-women crew flights on its medium and long-haul international routes and over 40 return domestic and short-haul flights all over India. Over 400 women employees of Air India, both cockpit and cabin crew were involved in these operations.

The crew operated both wide and narrow-body aircraft in its fleet, including B787 Dreamliners and B777s on international routes that included flying to Sydney, London, Rome, Paris, New York, and Washington among other world cities.

Speaking on the occasion, Air India CMD Ashwani Lohani said, Every individual and the society must respect women. It is a moment of absolute pride and honour for Air India that women employees are leaving their mark in the aviation sector on a global scale. I would like to congratulate our women crew for operating so many flights on various international and domestic routes fuelled by their indomitable Nari shakti.

Interestingly, for all the flights being operated by Air India’s all-women crew, even the technical services were provided by women aircraft engineers, technicians and flight dispatchers.

Air India operated its first all-women crew flight in 1985 when an all-women cockpit crew flew a Fokker Friendship Flight from Kolkata to Silchar. In fact, it was in 1956 when the Maharajah inducted its first woman commercial pilot, Captain Durba Banerjee.

On the occasion of International Women's Day, women Bravehearts, who went beyond their call of duty to serve the nation were honoured with gallantry awards by the Centre. From Air India, three women were conferred with the awards. They included Gloria Berry, who was awarded posthumously with a Kirti Chakra, and Neela Sawant and Sadhna Pawar who were awarded the Shaurya Chakra.

In a statement, the national carrier said, Air India is proud of these gallant women who had served the nation and the national airline with grit and commitment. The high benchmark set by them serves as an inspiration for every Air Indian to emulate their selfless service for Air India and India- putting the interest of the nation ahead of the self.

Also read: International Women's Day: Removing gender pay gap at work is a must for celebrating women

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