I lived in the United States for more than two decades and flew over half a million miles before encountering the first woman pilot on a commercial jetliner. My wife started her career at the UCLA Medical Center where some of the senior physicans were suprised that her sister was a physican in India and shared how the MD profession used to almost closed to American women until the 1950s.
Private Sector Aviation in India in a young phenomenon, with less than 15 years of serious history (to be technical, Tata used to own Air India but the government nationalized it shortly after independence over sixty years ago). But in the current generation of airlines such as Jet Airways, Indigo and others females are not discouraged from taking the driver’s seat. I encountered female pilots on multiple occasions. And during my last trip to India, I saw this ad on the back cover of the airline magazine for Indigo.
Last updated: December 26th, 2025
