Meet Jeni Jerome, the 23-year-old pioneering woman who is earning praises of Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan

23-year-old Jeni Jerome’s story of realising her childhood dream to fly has become an overnight sensation, inspiring Indian netizens. 

Here are five things to know about this pioneering woman:

1) On Sunday morning, Jeni Jerome made history as she became the first woman commercial pilot of her home state Kerala. 

2) The 23-year-old flew her maiden flight Air Arabia G9 449 as a co-pilot from Sharjah to Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday. 

3) Daughter of Beatrise and Jerome, Jeni hails from Kochuthura, a coastal hamlet located over 25 km away from Thiruvananthapuram. Her father works as a fabrication manager at the British company Lamprell. 

4) According to Health Minister Veena George who hailed the milestone achievement on Facebook, becoming a pilot has been Jeni’s childhood dream since she was in eighth grade.

5) Growing up in Ajman in the Middle East where her family is currently settled, Jeni had joined an aviation academy after completing 12th standard.

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Social media platforms have been abuzz with praises and congratulatory posts for the young commercial pilot. Here's a roundup of tweets and other posts celebrating Jeni's pioneering feat:

Author and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor took to twitter and expressed, "Congratulations to Jeni Jerome from Tvm's Kochuthura on her maiden flight as co-pilot. When she flies today's Air Arabia Group⁩ flight SHJ to TRV, it's the realisation of a childhood dream of a girl from a small fishing hamlet to be a commercial pilot. A real inspiration!"

Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan shared a rather long post, stating her story is a "great inspiration to women and ordinary people."

"The family that supported Jeni’s dreams and wishes is also a role model for the society. The entire society should be prepared to adopt that model of extending support to girls.I sincerely wish that Jeni could reach even greater heights," he wrote.

K Surendran, State President of BJP, expressed, "Hearty congratulations to Jeni Jerome, the youngest woman commercial pilot in Kerala. Yesterday was her maiden flight as a co-pilot, she flew from OMAJ to VOTV. She hails from the coastal region of Trivandrum, Kochuthura. Truly inspirational. Proud of you my girl."