A round table discussion on “Women in Aviation – Aint no Sky High Enough!!! From Stories to Experiences; From Dreams to Reality; From Thought to Action” on Wednesday at Wings India 2026 at Begumpet Airport, Hyderabad. | Photo credit: SIDDHANT THAKUR
Conversations on a women-centric work environment, early entry options, ongoing mid-career support and life-stage-friendly policies dominated the Women in Aviation roundtable at Wings India 2026.
The session brought together women leaders from government, regulatory bodies, airlines, airports, manufacturers and research institutions. Speakers generally agreed that while women’s entry into aviation has improved in recent years, participation remains uneven across fields, with significant declines at mid-level and senior levels.
Usha Padhee, Principal Secretary to the Government of Odisha, said India’s aviation workforce shows both progress and shortfalls. While women make up nearly 15% of pilots in India – well above the global average of about 5%, many of the 80 to 100 recognized aviation jobs remain largely out of reach for women. “We’ve been very selective. The intent is there, but the opportunity has to be supported by a robust ecosystem,” she said.
Lufthansa Technik’s Johanna Koch said aviation continues to associate specific jobs with specific genders, particularly in engineering and technical fields. “We need to de-gender the profession,” she said, adding that women are “the missing piece of the puzzle,” bringing emotional intelligence and relationship-building skills that are often undervalued despite being critical to an organization’s growth.
Mid-career departures have been identified as the sector’s biggest failure. Shivani Singh Deo, country manager for India at Virgin Atlantic, said women are leaving aviation not because of a lack of ambition, but because the ecosystem does not support continuity. “Even where grassroots participation is improving, women end up leaving because the workplace is not flexible or supportive enough,” she said.
Virginia Aranzazu, head of human resources for Airbus, emphasized early intervention as key to long-term change. “Organizations need to engage girls at the school level to expose them to the full spectrum of aviation careers, from manufacturing to operations,” she said. She added that Airbus has launched initiatives for students from class 5 to 10 and created internal women-focused networks in India to support leadership development.
Speaking from a skills perspective, Praveena Yagnambhat, Boeing India’s chief of staff, spoke about the Sukanya programme, which has set up STEM labs in government schools and is now supporting its first cohort of aspiring female pilots. “We have identified six Sukanya pilots and will support them with scholarships and mentorship throughout their journey,” she said.
Rashmi Hundekari, principal scientist at CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories, warned against tokenism in hiring. Air Traffic Management’s Shyamali Haldar said frequent transfers, a lack of schooling facilities at non-tenured stations and inadequate women-centric policies were pushing trained female controllers out of the system. Kiran Jain, chief operating officer of Noida International Airport, said menopause remains a largely unaddressed issue in corporate policy, often derailing women’s careers after years of professional investment.
Nivedita Dubey of the Airports Authority of India added that in addition to bringing younger women into the workforce, policymakers need to focus on the “life-stage-specific” challenges women already face in the system to ensure optimal use of existing talent.
Concluding the discussion, Neha Narain of IndiGo said that India’s aviation ambitions cannot be realized without the full participation of women. “We are the third largest aviation market in the world, aircraft orders will double in the coming years. Growth is impossible if half the population is excluded,” she said.
The session concluded with a clear message that meaningful inclusion in aviation will not only depend on improving numbers at grassroots level, but on sustained, policy-supported efforts to enable women to build long and uninterrupted careers in all segments of the industry.
Published – 28 Jan 2026 20:48 IST
