In India, women rule the skies with the highest share of female pilots in the world.
The percentage of female pilots in India is significantly higher than in any other developed country, according to data by International Society of Women Airline Pilots.
Compared to the aviation market in other countries, all major airlines in India have at least 10% of their pilots as women.
Zoom Air, a regional air service, has the highest number of female pilots at 30%
India may have a long way to go to achieve gender equality in many professions but in aviation, women rule the skies.
Airlines in India have the highest percentage of female commercial pilots compared to other markets, according to data by the International Society of Women Airline Pilots.
Less than 6% of 151,624 airline pilots across the globe are women. Surprisingly, India, which is a poster child for gender disparity, has been outperforming all other developed countries across the world with its impressive share of female pilots. Currently, Indian airlines have 1,092 female pilots as against 8,797 male pilots, reported Times of India.
“I realised I wanted to be a pilot when I was only eight years old.”
Captain Zoya Agarwal commanded a record-breaking flight over the North Pole on the world's longest air route in 2021. She’s one of a growing number of female commercial airline pilots in India. Captain Agarwal says even though she knew exactly what she wanted to do with her life, it was hard at first.
“I did not know English to start with. I had no idea how I was going to convince my parents, being a single girl child in an Indian society back in the days where I was supposed to grow up and get married. I didn't know how to break out of that societal stigma and I had no idea how I was going to go about gathering the finances, because I came from very humble beginnings.”
And her family weren’t initially supportive of her dream either – she says her mum had a clear path laid out: “She wanted me to get married, have children, but I was never one of those traditional girls. I did not want dolls for a toy. I wanted telescopes. So I think I started disappointing my parents from the very beginning. So when I eventually told my mum I wanted to become a pilot, she cried to start with."
India has the highest proportion of female pilots anywhere in the world - 12.4% of pilots in the country are women.
Captain Agarwal says she thinks equal pay is a big factor in this. “When I joined Air India, I was one of the first few girl pilots and I think we all worked incredibly hard to get this percentage to a point where we are the highest, because every single woman pilot who has been in India has given her contribution in the cause.”
She says when she joined, people told her, 'We’re not used to seeing some girl with makeup on or dressed up like that.’ "I told them to get used to it. There is this absence of role models in society. I feel like I should do every single bit of whatever I can do to impact someone's life. I proved my mettle even though I had to work twice as hard. My airplane seat doesn't know whether it's a man or a woman flying it."
She now wants to inspire the next generation of female pilots in India: “Today I am in a position where so many young girls and children look up to me and they think that, if she can do it, so can I.”
Listen to more of Zoya’s story and find out what other countries are doing to increase the number of female pilots in Business Daily.
She now wants to inspire the next generation of female pilots in India: “Today I am in a position where so many young girls and children look up to me and they think that, if she can do it, so can I.”
Listen to more of Zoya’s story and find out what other countries are doing to increase the number of female pilots in Business Daily.
