IndiGo, the Indian budget airline, inducted 77 female pilots into its fleet, 72 for the Airbus fleet and five for the ATR fleet. This was the airline’s way of celebrating India’s 77th Independence Day.
The induction of these pilots is in line with the #GirlPower philosophy of the airline and a step towards the carrier’s goal to cross the 1,000 mark in terms of the number of female pilots, by August 2025.
That is not all; IndiGo is reportedly aiming for 25 per cent women’s representation in the senior ranks, and 50 per cent in the entire workforce.
With the addition of these 77 pilots, the strength of women pilots in the Indigo crew has reportedly crossed 800. While globally, there are seven to nine per cent women pilots, Indigo has 14 per cent female pilots in its crew.
One reason why female pilots are able to thrive in IndiGo is that the airline offers them flexibility if they have young children, allowing them to reduce their flying contract.
It is reported that IndiGo has 36,860 women as part of its permanent staff, which includes 5,038 pilots and 9,363 cabin crew. There are 713 female pilots and about 200 employees with disabilities including those with speech, hearing, visual and locomotor impairments. This is a very heartening increase, since the airline had only 11 persons with disabilities (PwDs) in 2022 and 86 in 2023.
