Longest Commercial Flight by an All Indian Women Crew

By: Mansi Singh

Amelia Earhart, one of the most renowned aviation pioneer and author across the globe who impacted the mindset of people by saying “A woman and a pilot at once, WHY NOT?” rightly said, “Everyone has the oceans to fly, if they have the heart to do it. Is it reckless? Maybe. But what do dreams know of boundaries.”

Building dreams on exactly these boundaries and breaking away all the shackles existing in our community today, history has been created as Air India’s longest flight from San Francisco to Bengaluru with an all- woman crew landed in the city on 11th January 2020. As the flight (AI-176) landed at the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru and the crew members walked to the airport lounge, there was a huge crowd of people to receive them with elation and joy for setting a new record of an all-woman crew flying the longest distance over the North Pole.

This somehow indicated a massive game changer in our aviation status due to unanimously high gender disparity ratio when it comes to female pilots. India however has reasons to be extremely proud of-our women pilots account for 12% of the pilot ratio, the highest for any country.

Air India had said earlier this will be the longest commercial flight in the world to be operated by it or any other airline in India. The direct distance between the two cities at opposite ends of the world is 13,993 km with a time zone change of around 13.5 hours. Flying over the North Pole is extremely technical, as per aviation experts with the compass flipping 180 degrees in the region. While Air India has flown over the polar route, it is for the first time that a team of women pilots undertook the journey over the North Pole.

Amid the cheers and clapping, the four women-Captain Zoya Aggarwal, Captain Papagari Thanmai, Captain Akansha Sonaware and Captain Shivani Manhas- responded by showing the thumbs up sign. Sporting a black uniform and donning the Air India’s cap, the women were received at the airport by the Air India team members. These Indian daughters created history and became idols for so many more.

Adding a feather to their cap was the extraordinary achievement of saving almost 10 metric tons of fuel on this flight, a feat that airline authorities and environmentalists across the world have constantly been striving for.

Captain Aggarwal, the first pilot, said she felt as if she was on top of the world flying over the North pole, surrounded by Arctic ocean and the northernmost point on earth. Aggarwal, hailing from a conservative family and the only child of her parents, broke the glass ceiling to become an AI pilot and carved a niche for herself by steering the inaugural flight from America. “I am the only child of my parents. So, I grew up in a world where I was taught to walk behind the men and their shadows and to grow up and get married and look after my kids,” she recalled. Not just that, Captain Aggarwal has been the youngest pilot to have flown a Boeing 777, having done so back in 2013.

These women have been an epitome of strength, patience and proof that women can conquer the world in any form that they wish to. The world is in dire need of the moment when adding the word “female” in front of a profession stops implying surprises. Female COO, Female Pilots, Female Surgeons and what not. One day there will be no Female Pilots, there will just be Pilots.