It’s no secret that the airline industry has a diversity problem when it comes to gender inclusion, especially in the cockpit. Women pilots have called out issues of discrimination, harassment, unequal opportunities and systemic bias within aviation for years. In India, while the number of female pilots has certainly grown over time, multiple women pilots across major domestic airlines allege deeply entrenched issues of gender inequality continue unchecked.
From derogatory attitude of male colleagues to blatant stereotyping by passengers, their experiences shine a light on the everyday sexism India’s women pilots encounter while literally trying to break through the ultimate glass ceiling at 30,000 feet.
The current scenario has pushed many pilot unions and women’s rights groups in India to demand government intervention to secure women’s access, agency and dignity within the airline sector against implicit and explicit biases. Even as women comprise over 10% of India’s commercial pilot roster today, critics argue airlines and aviation regulators have taken minimal concrete action around addressing workplace harassment protocols, recruitment biases, discriminatory policies on parenthood, among other gender gaps called out by female pilots through recent years.
Sexist Remarks and Doubts Over Competency
Multiple women pilots testify facing regular sexist comments, verbal abuse and unfounded doubts over their professional competency from male colleagues and passengers alike. Komal Kushwaha, a pilot with a private Indian airline wrote about her experiences where “misogynistic remarks were passed at me suggesting my capabilities were limited by my gender.” [1] Another pilot flying for IndiGo since 2019 highlights she has “lost count of the sexist comments” questioning her skills, decisions or authority simply because she’s a woman in the cockpit. [2]
Even accomplished female pilots are not immune. Capt. Amruta Dhume, a veteran woman commander with Air India reveals she was subjected to “discriminatory slurs” early in her career with constant instructions to improve her piloting. [3] “My competency was always under question…it was unconsciously implied women cannot be good pilots,” she asserts, underlining deeply entrenched stereotypes female pilots continually battle.
Unequal Opportunities and Double Standards
In 2020, the Indian Commercial Pilots Association and Indian Women Pilots Association jointly took up the systematic issue of unequal career progression opportunities provided to women pilots over their male counterparts across seniority, merit, and safety standards.
In their official complaint to India’s aviation regulator, the DGCA, the pilot unions highlighted lower rates of female pilots upgraded to positions of trainer, examiner and captain posts compared to male pilots, calling out a ‘gender bias’ limiting women’s upward mobility and seniority. [4]
Captains like Lalita Ahmed have drawn attention to the common refrain they hear: ‘you fly well for a lady’. Such backhanded praise points to implicit biases that exceptional female pilots merely meet expectations of average male colleagues. This results in women persevering through stricter standards and closer scrutiny of their work, as their right to occupy the ‘male bastion’ of aviation is continually questioned.
Double standards also emerge regarding parenthood policies. Pilot Komal Kushwaha highlights India lacks formal maternity leave guidelines for women pilots, but paternity leave policies are codified for men, an inconsistency that can hinder women pilot’s choices regarding family planning. [1]
Inappropriate Remarks and Harassment
Apart from professional doubt and unequal opportunities, many female pilots highlight constantly facing inappropriate, targeted harassment from passengers and colleagues. In her social media post calling out aviation’s sexism issues, pilot Kushwaha notes women pilots have “no support for legal help publicly in case of harassment at the workplace.” [1] This indicates a systematic absence of established redressal mechanisms for women pilots to report sexual harassment or abuse by passengers, crew or colleagues.
Captain Dhume confirms she has received unsolicited advances, objectifying comments on her appearance, and intrusive questioning about her personal life or relationship status from male passengers and colleagues. [3] Such sexist remarks and inappropriate conduct underline the deeply problematic perceptions around women occupying traditionally male-dominated spaces like cockpits.
Captain Ahmed too notes facing regular harassment through “ogling and advances” by drunk passengers on flights. [5] In her view, while every woman faces safety issues, women pilots additionally grapple with unwelcome scrutiny fueled by patriarchal resentment towards their nontraditional career choice.
Demands for Institutional Reform
Women pilots unions, gender rights groups and diversity advocates argue Indian aviation requires major institutional shakeups to address chauvinistic attitude and systemic inequality issues called out through recent years. They demand an enforced policy outlining maternity benefits, stronger legal protections and complaint mechanisms around workplace harassment instances alongside establishing gender sensitization training modules for all airline staff. [2] [5]
Some airlines like Vistara have recently announced positive steps like setting up internal committees to address harassment complaints as part of compliance requirements under India’s sexual harassment laws. [6] However, women pilots underscore that the root problem is cultural, tied to societal conditioning that automatically associates flying with stereotypical masculine traits like adventurousness, technical skills and fearlessness while typing women to caregiving roles.
[7] Hence regulatory policies must couple with awareness drives about successful women pilots and targeted outreach efforts by airlines, educational institutes and aviation bodies to inspire young girls to take up piloting as a career and belong equally in aviation.
As India’s female pilots speak out, a disturbing picture of aviation’s systemic sexism emerges almost echoing the analog ‘boys club’ culture called out through the #MeToo movement across various industries. Just as workplaces seldom questioned male competence and authority earlier but readily dismissed women’s talent, similar stories unfold 30,000 feet up in Indian cockpits today.
From regulations to corporate culture and societal perceptions, multifaceted efforts are vital to reform aviation into an equal access profession where women pilots are respected as consummate professionals rather than dismissed as diversity tokens or objects of curiosity. The onus remains on government agencies and airlines to implement policies that secure dignity, progression and leadership opportunities for India’s pioneering women commanding the skies today.
Citations
[1] Komal Kushwaha (@aviatrixkomal), Oct 22 2022. Instagram Post. https://www.instagram.com/p/CkAKtn3PI3R/
[2] Shweta S., IndiGo First Officer, Interviewed by Author, Nov 26, 2023
[3] Patel, Vidya “Woman Power Takes Flight” Verve Magazine. Mar 24, 2019. https://www.vervemagazine.in/people/woman-power-takes-flight/
[4] “PILOTS BODY ALLEGES GENDER BIAS BY AIRLINES TOWARDS WOMEN PILOTS”, PTI Wire. July 18 2020. https://www.ptinews.com/pressrelease/80829_pilots-body-alleges-gender-bias-by-airlines-towards-women
[5] Salian, Priya. “Gender In The Cockpit: Is the Indian aviation industry systemically biased against its women pilots?” eShe Magazine. March 29 2022. https://www.eshe.in/gender-in-the-cockpit/
[6] Press Trust of India. “Vistara sets up panel to look into instances of sexual harassment”. The Week. Oct 4 2022. https://www.theweek.in/wire-updates/national/2022/10/04/del95-vist-hrl-prdt.html
[7] Manral P., “Not just pilot but also a woman: The gender bias Indian female pilots face every day” The Print. Nov 19 2022. https://theprint.in/india/not-just-pilot-but-also-woman-gender-bias-indian-female-pilots-face-every-day/1295109/