All-women crew fly Alliance Air maiden Delhi-Bareilly flight on International Women’s Day

To mark the inauguration of a domestic airline, which coincided with International Women’s Day, an all-woman crew flew from Delhi to Bareilly with Union Minister and MP from  Bareilly Santosh Gangwar on board, on March 8. 

According to The New Indian Express, the maiden flight of Alliance Air, a subsidiary of Air India was flagged off by Union Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, and was manned by Captain Poonam Yadav. 

Minister of Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri announced the inaugural flight virtually and said, "I would like to thank all the stakeholders who have done a tremendous job to get start the Bareilly flight under 'Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik' (UDAN) scheme."

"We have a strong team of women in the aviation sector, with 16 per cent of staff controlling the Air Traffic Controller (ATC). Today is a matter of great pride for us because all the women are commanding the inaugural flight of Alliance Air and other 11 more flights from different route under all-women crew," he added.

According to the Free Press Journal, he tweeted his support to the flight crew and all the ground staff involved in the flight

Alliance Air Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Harpreet A De Singh said, "We are celebrating the Women's Day with an all-women crew today and for the first time in Alliance Air history, we have deployed all-women crew for the inaugural flight to Bareilly under the command of women pilots, women crew, women engineers, women aircraft dispatchers and women Air Traffic Controller (ATC)."

She also extended her best wishes to all the women who dream of becoming pilots and aviation professionals.

The all-woman crew ATR-72 plane, boarded by Gangwar at Delhi landed at the Bareilly airport at 9 am, where they  were met by a water cannon salute for the new air service and the all-women crew members. Extending a warm welcome was state civil aviation minister Nand Gopal Nandi 

Today, India is believed to have the largest number of women pilots in the world.

In January 2021, a group of four women completed the longest non-stop commercial flight ever operated by an Indian national airline from South India to the US between Bengaluru and San Francisco. Air India’s flight 176, a Boeing 777, was the first time an entirely female flew over the North Pole, saving 10 metric tons of fuel.