India has 3x more women pilots than the global average

• There are 15% women pilots working across Indian airlines currently.
• This percentage is thrice the global average, says the Civil Aviation Ministry.
• In spite of an improving gender diversity, the Indian aviation sector could fall short of employees thanks to new airline launches, relaunches and comebacks.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation said in a Lok Sabha session that the share of women pilots in the overall pool of pilots is significantly higher in India as compared to the global average.

Jyotiraditya Scindia, Union Civil Aviation Minister, further added that only 5% of the pilots are women globally, but the share of women pilots in India is 15%.

“Globally, according to the International Society of Women Airline Pilots, around 5 percent of pilots are women. In India, the share of women pilots is significantly higher - at around 15 percent,” Scindia said in the parliament.

The Ministry also said that its associated organizations have taken several initiatives to increase the number of pilots in the country for both women and men.

“These include issuing award letters by Airports Authority of India for nine new Flying Training Organizations (FTO) slots at five airports namely Belagavi, Jalgaon, Kalaburagi, Khajuraho and Lilabari in the first phase and six more FTO slots at five airports in the second phase namely Bhavnagar, Hubballi, Kadapa, Kishangarh and Salem,” Scindia added.

These initiatives will enrich the number of flying hours at FTOS and will also increase the number of commercial pilot licenses issued per annum. “ In addition, Women in Aviation International (WAI), India Chapter, conducts awareness programmes across the country to encourage women aviation professionals with special focus on young schoolgirls especially from low income families,” the ministry said.

However, according to several media reports, there are over 17,700 registered pilots in India, out of which only 2,500 are women.

Talent crunch in the aviation industry

In spite of good gender diversity, the Indian aviation sector could fall short of employees thanks to new airline launches, relaunches and comebacks — Akasa Airlines, Tata Air and Jet Airways, respectively.

“India needs 10,000 more flight attendants, 6,000 more qualified pilots. Compared to past slowdown of 2010, 2012 or 2009 in the industry, this time it is going to be very hard for the airlines to sustain. To sustain growth one has to add aircrafts, fleets, need more pilots, flight attendants, engineers,” Mark Martin, founder and CEO of Martin Consulting told Business Insider in an interview.

Experts believe that an increase in demand for experienced pilots will push them to hire foreign pilots. Flying schools had closed during the Covid-19 pandemic for two years and there are a lot of pending licenses to be approved as well.

It’s not just the pilots but there will be a shortage of experienced engineers, ground staff and other cabin crew that new airlines would need to hire. It means an aviation talent war is afoot and it will be another ground for old and new airlines alike to battle on — in addition to fliers and flying slots.

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