On Women's Day, Air India operates four 'all women crew' flights

New Delhi: To mark International Women’s Day, national carrier Air India today operated four ‘all-women crew’ flights to international and domestic destinations, with one flown by two pilots who were also part of the maiden such feat in the world way back in 1985. Air India was the first carrier in the world to operate an all-women crew in 1985.[caption id=“attachment_2128889” align=“alignleft” width=“385”]  Representational image. PTI[/caption] Budget carrier SpiceJet and regional airline Air Costa also operated such flights to mark the Day. Air India operated all women crew flights to international and domestic destinations to celebrate the occasion of International Women’s Day today, the airline said in a release. On the international network, the two such flights were operated on Delhi-Melbourne and Mumbai-Muscat-Mumbai routes. While, AI806 Mumbai-Delhi and AI475 Delhi-Jodhpur-Mumbai were the flights operated by the all-women crew on the domestic routes. History repeated itself as the Delhi-Melbourne flight AI302 (B-787) was operated by two of the same cockpit crew who had operated the world’s first all-women crew flight 30 years ago in 1985, on the then Calcutta to Silchar flight with a Fokker Friendship aircraft on the erstwhile Indian Airlines. Air India also celebrated women’s empowerment with program with an interactive session with women from weaker sections of the society in sync with the government’s “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” national mission, the release said. The event was held with active support of the NGO ‘Adharshila’, Indian Women’s Pilot Association as well as AVA, Air India’s Merchandising Partner, it said. Sanjiv Kapoor, chief operating officer of SpiceJet which operated 16 all-women crew flight on the occasion said “while flights operated by all-women crew is not just a Women’s Day event for SpiceJet,they occur regularly throughout the year. “On the occasion of Women’s Day we especially celebrate the role and contribution of the wonderful and inspirational women at SpiceJet.” Women at SpiceJet are integral to all aspects of the airline, be it pilots, cabin crew, sales or any other department, he said. Air Costa also operated special flights with all women crew on board. KN Babu CEO Air Costa said, “It is Air Costa’s way of making our women guests feel special and we thank them for making us what we are today and also to showcase that today’s women can easily handle the tough job of flying with their sheer determination and perseverance.” PTI