Air India marks International Women's Day with several all-women managed flights

In resonance with #AccelerateAction, the theme of International Women’s Day 2025, the Air India group took to the skies with flights managed by all-women teams across functions in the air and on ground, while also unveiling a series of initiatives for women employees and special offers for women passengers.

In all, 18 flights operated by Air India and Air India Express on select international and domestic routes, were managed by all-women teams that included pilots, cabin crew, crew roster planning analysts scheduling duties for the all-women crew onboard, flight dispatchers and a meteorologist planning and monitoring flights from departure to arrival, crew controllers tracking all crew ensuring compliance with flight duty time and rest requirements and a female operations control duty manager overseeing Air India’s day of operation.

Destinations to which these flights were operated included Melbourne, the longest amongst them, London Heathrow, Dammam, Muscat, Ras Al Khaimah, Abu Dhabi, Varanasi, Pune, Visakhapatnam, Kolkata, Bagdogra, Bhubaneswar, Vijayawada and Guwahati.

Campbell Wilson, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, Air India & Chairman, Air India Express said: “At Air India group, we take pride in the fact that women leading from the front is a norm rather than an exception. India leads the world in the number of women commercial pilots and Air India group is significantly contributing to this achievement. We have been focusing on nurturing a diverse, equitable and inclusive workforce and have women representation across key decision-making roles, driving our transformation journey.”

At Air India, women make 46% of the total workforce, 16% of pilots, which is almost three times the global average, 21% of staff in ground services, 27% in finance and 22% in the digital and technology division, and all these numbers have grown significantly since Air India’s return to the Tata group.

Air India is also a signatory to IATA’s #25by2025 initiative and aims at enhancing women at mid and senior levels.

Air India Express, Air India’s low-cost carrier, further exemplifies this commitment, with women comprising over 13% of its pilots and nearly half of its overall workforce.

Celebrating Women at Air India

At an organisational level, Air India has launched the #HerMatters initiative to assist its women employees navigate critical life events, both on their professional and personal fronts, for a better work-life balance.

The airline organised webinars and panel discussions on topics such as financial independence for women, return to work after maternity and shift from support to sponsorship to nurture women leaders within the airline.

Air India group has also decided to organise sessions on careers in aviation at girls’ schools in the National Capital Region of Delhi to inspire young women to pursue careers in aviation. Under this initiative, Air India employees will visit these schools and share their experiences and growth opportunities in Indian aviation.

Celebrating Women Passengers with Exclusive Offers

In addition, Air India offered special promotions and benefits from 1-8 March 2025, which included fare discounts for bookings with at least one woman in the PNR, and 5% discount on gift card purchases, enabling and encouraging women to take charge of their travel.