History has been created by women in aviation who operated Air India's
longest non-stop commercial flight connecting San Francisco and Bengaluru.
The 17-hour long flight was completed by an all-female Indian pilot
team which comprised Capt Zoya Aggarwal, Capt Papagari Thanmai, Capt Akansha
Soaware and Capt Shivani Manhas.
It was also the first flight which connected South India and United
States directly, according to a statement from Kempegowda International Airport
in Bengaluru where the historic flight landed safely.
The flight with four female cockpit crew members departed from San
Francisco on January 9 at 20:30 hrs (local time) and arrived at Kempegowda
International Airport in Southern India at 03:45 hrs (local time) on January
11.
According to aviation experts, flying over the North Pole through this
route is technical and requires skill and experience. But the women pilots of
India completed the assigned task with flying colors by crossing 8000 miles in
17 long hours they made their way back home.
After the flight landed at Kempegowda International Airport Captain
Zoya Aggarwal said,” Today, we created World history by not only flying over
the North Pole but also by having all women pilots who successfully did it. We
are extremely happy and proud to be part of it. This route has saved 10 tones
of fuel.”
In 2013, Captain Zoya Aggarwal became the youngest woman pilot to fly
a Boeing-777. She has completed more than 8000 hours of flying and is known for
being an ace pilot.
Before the flight she said,” Most people in the World will not see the
North Pole or even its map in their lifetime. I truly feel privileged and
humbled by trust posed in me by the civil aviation ministry and our flag
carrier. It is a golden opportunity to command a Boeing 777 inaugural SFO-BLR,
one of the World’s longest flight over the North Pole.”
After the safe landing of the historic flight Union Civil Aviation
Minister Hardeep Puri tweeted,” In a moment to cherish and celebrate, women
professionals of Indian Civil Aviation create history. Heartiest
congratulations to Captain Zoya Aggarwal, Captain Papagari Thanmai, Captain
Akansha Sonaware and Captain Shivani Manhas for flying over North Pole to land
in Bengaluru from San Francisco.”
Captain Papagari Thanmai who flew the second half of the flight said
that a lot of planning was done before the flight as they flew over the North
Pole, there were varying factors involved, including the weather, the solar
radiation levels, and the availability of airports in case of a diversion.”
As compared to other countries, India has highest number of female
commercial pilots, leaving behind World’s average of 5.18 per cent, India has
12.4 percent of women force in aviation industry.
Other countries such as France has only 7.6 percent of women force in
aviation industry, Japan has 5.6 per cent and U.S. has minimal 5.1 per cent of
women force in this industry.
Indeed, India not only hires women as flight attendants but is not
restrained in hiring women as cockpit controllers.
How the History
has been Created?
It was the Air India's longest ever route which was officially
inaugurated from San Francisco International Airport. The first flight through
this route featured all-female pilot crew and marked first direct connection
between Bengaluru and the United States.
This direct flight from the Silicon Valley to Bangaluru has been a
long pending demand as significant population of South Indians resides there.
Normally, airlines take six months or a year between formalizing a
route and the inauguration of the service but this newest service of Air India
took just six weeks between taking off and making an announcement.
In a statement Air India said,” This will be the longest commercial
flight in the World to be operated by Air India or any other airline in
India…The total flight time on this route will be of more than 17 hours
depending on the wind speed on that particular day.”
The route through the North Pole is not only attractive but also
cheaper because it saves fuel as well as time. This flight has become the
second cheapest flight on this route.
Almost all the flights from San Francisco to Bengaluru take minimum of
21 hours 50 minutes and also make a stop in between for refueling. But this
newest flight of Air India is economical because it only saves four hours of
journey but also saves the fuel.
In this flight, there were 238 passengers onboard, including eight in
first class, 35 in business and 195 in economy.
It is not the first time Air India's flight took the North Pole route.
In 2007, Air India took the North Pole route for the first time when Captain
Amitabh Singh took the delivery of brand-new Boeing 777 to India
Later in August 2019, under the command of Captain Rajneesh Sharma Air
India flew over the North Pole route with passengers on-board between Delhi and
San Francisco.
Written by - Sanjana Yadav
Edited by - Adrija Saha
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