Men be ready, women pilots're flying high

NEW DELHI: Indian women are flying high! If you thought they were flying high only as air-hostesses, think again. The number of women pilots is on a rise in India. The various Indian carriers together have 11% women flying planes which is almost double the global figure of 5.88%. Though the absolute number of women pilots is still very low as compared to their male counterparts.

Airlines are witnessing increase in the number of women pilots. Today, Air-India has 30 women pilots as compared to only one in 1994. Air-India also has a woman instructor for pilots.

“Earlier women preferred joining domestic airlines. However the trend is changing now. The number of women joining international airlines such as Air-India is increasing,” says Harpreet A De Singh, deputy general manager, training operations, Air-India. Fourteen out of 270 pilots in Air Sahara are women. Last year it had 12 women flying planes.

Low-cost carriers have also reported a rise in the number of women pilots. Air Deccan has 33 women pilots out of a total of 400 pilots on its rolls. Last year it had 10 women pilots. “Today, Air Deccan has the largest number of women pilots in India,” says Captain G.R Gopinath, managing director, Air Deccan.

Six out of 120 pilots in SpiceJet are women whereas there was only one female pilot when SpiceJet started it’s operations in 2005. GoAir has seven women pilots out of a total of 200 pilots.

As aviation sector is expanding rapidly in India and acute shortage of pilots is being faced by the industry, men and women alike are finding it lucrative to join the industry as pilots.

The average salary of a commercial pilot in India is Rs 4 lakh per month. “Hopefully the number of women pilots will keep increasing. As the money in this field is good there is no reason why women shouldn’t be entering it,” says Jeh Wadia, managing director, GoAir.

In the recent July 2006 DGCA exam, of the 4,332 students who took the exam 516, that is 12%, were women as compared to only 4% five years back. Women on top. Men are you ready?