
1 minute read
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from 2017-03 Sydney (2)
by Indian Link
India's national carrierflies its all-female crew in to Melbourne
Bypreetijabbal
The conversation in the cockpit sure wasdifferencthistime, asthe all-female crew from Air India flew intoMelbourne airport,aspart of aninitiati,7e byAir India cocommemorate International \Xfomen's Day.
LedbyCaptainLaxmi Nagrath,the DreamJinetleft Delhiat 1.15pm on 8 March andlandedin:tv[elbourne justbefore 7amon 9l'vfarch,coveringaround 10,215 kilometers,with237 passengers and nine infants on board.
Asthe weary travellersmade their wayout toArrivals,there wasa sti.rof excitement, and the four Air Indiacockpit crewmembersemerged.intheir crisp uniforms, allofthem women.Theychatted easilyabout their experiences and were very proudcobe partofthisinitiative to mark InternacionalWomen'sDay.
This wasn't the first time anall-female crew flew into Melbourne,accordingto CaptainSangeeta Nirmal,whoclaimedthat Air Indiahadconsciouslyencouragedand promotedseveralsuch flightsinthe past. lncerestingly, both her daughtersare also pilotsandshe stronglybelievesthat aviation
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isagreat career for women.
Captain Nagrath said she had come acrossnogender disparity in terms ofpay or opportunitiesduringher 30-year flying career."Infact I was looked after better thanthe menandmybatchmatestook extracare inlookingout for me whenIwas training,"she sharedwitha smile.
Thiswasnot their first visit to Melbourne andjudgingbytheir conversation,plans seemed tobe inplace tocheckout Melbourne's sightswith Melbourne Zoo and St Kildabeach on copof their todo list.ThepopularThousand Seeps walking trail andbikeridescothe beachwere also highonthe agenda
The cabin crewdisplayednosign of weariness, despite the longhaul,as they happilyposedfor photos,smartand smiling intheiruniform. Theirmood seemed co match the colour of Indian spring(mustard) that wasdominantintheir saris.
The passengers were equally upbeat and delightedtofindomchat they were partof a specialevent.
"Itwasperfect!The plane couldn't differentiate betweenamale andfemale pilot!" Sunila Forsyth laughinglycold Tndian Link. "Jokes aside,Ifeltverygoodknowing chat Air Indiadeployedauallwomen flight. It'svery empoweringandencouraging, especially for Indian women around the world.Allthe female passengerswere given roses before boarding -Iwasgiven two!" Air Indiais seekingaGuinnessWorld record forits all-female flights aroundthe world. Other airfu1eshave alsorecently laLmched similar flightsintheir guest to join the bandwagon,however Air Indiaclaimsit isthe first one to script history by flyingan all-womancrew flight around the world.
Al's all-women crew operates 'around theworld' flight Nationalpassengercarrier.A.ir Jndiarecently operated an'aroLmdthe world'flightwith an all-female crew,onitsNew Delhi-San Francisco-New Delhiroute.
Flight AI 173tookofffromIndira GandhiInternacionalAirport in Delhi on 27 February toSanFrancisco,covered a distance of around 15,300km in 15anda halfhoursoverthe Pacificroute,andon the returnjourney fromSan Francisco over the Atlantic.
"The entire flight wasoperatedby the women -staff ofeightdeparm1ents," an airlinerelease said. "These departments induded cockpit crew,cabin crew,checkin staff,doctor,customer care staff, ATC (air traffic controQ and the entire ground handlingfromoperatortotechnician, engineer and flightdispatcher and trimmer."
The lineoperationsafety auditwasdone byHarpreetA De Singh, ED (executive director) Flight Safety,Air lndia.Thisis the first time chatchis-audit was clone bya female officer foran around-the-worldtrip.