Skift Take
The 22% increase in the issuance of licenses to women pilots is a welcome step in a profession that is mainly deemed male-dominated.
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The Indian aviation watchdog, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), said Monday that it issued a decade-high of 1,622 commercial pilot licenses in 2023, up from 1,165 licenses in 2022.
Among the new licenses, 18.1% belong to women pilots, for growth of 22.5% from 2022. An estimated 14% of the workforce employed with scheduled airlines consists of women pilots.
This is the second consecutive year where the number of licenses issued has witnessed a decade-high, the DGCA said.
The increase in licenses aligns with the ongoing recovery of the country's civil aviation sector after the coronavirus pandemic. Major operators, such as Air India and IndiGo, have announced substantial aircraft orders during this period.
Air India has committed to at least 470 aircraft from Airbus and Boeing, worth an estimated $34 billion as part of the Tata Group’s effort to remake the long-ailing Indian flag carrier into a global aviation leader. Budget carrier IndiGo is preparing to take delivery of around 500 narrow-body A320-family jets from Airbus worth $50 billion, as reported by Skift.
Recently, the ministry of civil aviation had said that there was no shortage of pilots in the country, but there was a lack of commanders for specific aircraft types. Foreign pilots are being utilized through Foreign Aircrew Temporary Authorization (FATA) to address this.
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