Airservices Australia, Melbourne Airport and Air India have jointly honoured International Women’s Day with an international, cross-continental celebration of women in the air, on the ground and over the airwaves.
Air India crewed last night’s inbound AI308 service from Delhi and outbound AI309 flight back to India with entirely female crews in both the flight deck and cabin.
The aircraft were serviced on the tarmac at Melbourne Airport by an all-female ground team and managed in the air by our team of women air traffic controllers – a joint initiative to showcase the incredible work done by women in aviation.
In addition to its all-female crew, flight AI308 was serviced by female engineers, security personnel, hub control and rostering staff.
India boasts the highest percentage of female flight deck crew in the world, with women holding more than 15 per cent of the nation’s commercial pilot licences, compared to around 10 per cent in Australia.
Airservices Australia Chief Executive Officer Rob Sharp said women air traffic controllers (ATCs) at Melbourne Air Traffic Control Tower were proud to support last night’s all-woman crewed inbound AI308 service from Delhi and outbound AI309 flight back to India.
“In our leading industry role as an air traffic navigation service provider, Airservices is committed to fostering diversity and inclusion in our workplace, as well as in the wider aviation industry,” Mr Sharp said.
“IWD is a great opportunity to celebrate the talented women across our organisation, from our ATCs through to our aviation rescue fire fighters and engineers, and women leaders.
“Airservices is making significant strides forward in gender parity: we now have 50 per cent women representation on our Board and 49 per cent of our air traffic control line leaders are women.”
Melbourne Airport Chief Executive Officer Lorie Argus said the flights highlighted how far the traditionally male-dominated industry had come while recognising the work still to do.
“Flights like these show that anything is possible for women in aviation today,” she said.
“Whether you want to be the CEO, a pilot, a safety officer, a refueller or an air traffic controller, aviation has a breadth of diverse and exciting career paths for women, which simply wasn’t the case when I started my career in aviation 30 years ago.
“The saying ‘you can’t be what you can’t see’ is true, and I hope shining a light on these amazing women inspires other young women to follow in their footsteps.
“But I also look forward to the day when we no longer need to call out these roles, because we have an equal representation of women in our aviation workforce.”
Air India Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Campbell Wilson said the airline took great pride in the contribution made by its female team members.
“Air India Group has been dedicated to building a workplace where diversity is celebrated, and every employee is empowered to reach their full potential,” he said.
“For us, diversity is strength, driving collaboration and efficiency.”
About Airservices
Airservices Australia is a government-owned organisation responsible for safely and efficiently managing air traffic in 11 per cent of the world’s airspace, as well as the provision of aviation rescue fire fighting services at Australia’s busiest airports. We are regulated by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and work closely with our customers and industry to support the long-term growth of the aviation industry.
