ISBN: 978-81-930411-0-9

[Pages:5]ELK Asia Pacific Journals ? Special Issue ISBN: 978-81-930411-0-9

WOMEN IN INDIAN AIRLINE INDUSTRY: CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS (With special reference to women Pilots)

Dr. Sailaja Vasakarla, Assistant Professor, SKIM, Sri Krishnadevaraya University, Ananthapuram, Andhrapradesh

ABSTRACT

The new economic policy of India paved way for the extensive development of Indian Airline industry. For many years the Airline industry has been perceived as the highly male-dominated industry. This phenomenon is found highly significant in Indian Airline industry. The role played by the female employees has not been worth mentioning. Most of the female employees in the industry are visible in cabins. All most all core jobs have been performed by males. However today the scenario is slowly changing and industry is undergoing dynamic changes. The industry is inviting services of female employees into their core operations like aircraft engineering, flying etc. They are playing a great role from cabin to cockpit. Even women are showing high interest to pursue their careers as aircraft engineers and pilots. Though environment seems to be quite positive for women still there are many challenges in front of them to several setbacks to their effective growth in the industry. There are many vital issues being encountered by women in this industry. Hence in this paper an attempt is made to highlight the major issues being faced by women especially in flying jobs in the Indian Airline industry. An attempt is also made to understand the prospects for women pilots in the Indian Airline Industry. Finally the paper is concluded with the identification of suitable measures need to be initiated by the industry to encourage women to pursue career in core jobs and strive for their career growth.

Key words: Flying Jobs, Career progression, Gender stereotypes, Gender Sensitivity, Women Grievance redressal

Introduction: The new economic policy of India paved way for the extensive development of Indian Airline industry. For many years the Airline industry has been perceived as the highly male-dominated industry. This phenomenon is found highly significant in Indian Airline industry. The role played by the female employees has not been worth mentioning. Most of the female employees in the industry are visible in cabins. All most all core jobs have been performed by males. However today the entire scenario is slowly changing and industry is undergoing dynamic changes. The industry is inviting services of female employees into their core operations like aircraft engineering, flying etc. They are playing a great role from cabin to cockpit. Even women are showing high interest to pursue their careers as aircraft engineers and pilots. Though environment seems to

be quite positive for women but still they are facing various challenges. Even after the passage of 40 years of women taking controls in the industry still passengers react with surprise when they see a woman flying a commercial plane. There are several setbacks for the effective growth of women pilots in the Indian industry. There are many vital issues being encountered by women in this industry.

Review of literature: According to J.Asiro, in the developing countries, most of the female pilots are found in general aviation and with civilian background. The societal and economic factors play a great role in the growth of international women pilots. Furgurson, states that the challenge of holding women's flying records for speed, attitude, and Endurance also motivated other young women to attempt

flight. According to Corn a married flying women created an impression that she is able to balance family and wok successfully. The support from their husbands reduced the feeling of discrimination but still it is prevailing in the industry. More studies on the primary issues affecting female pilots in developing countries are essential for analyzing the growth of women pilots. Need for the study: Women are playing a crucial in all most all every industry in India. Indian Airline industry is also realizing how female employees can become a significant competitive advantage to the industry. But not many studies have been undertaken in this area specifically in the Indian Industry. Hence an attempt is made to contribute to existing literature through this paper. Research purpose: This paper attempts to highlight the major issues being faced by women in the Indian Airline industry. An attempt is also made to understand the prospects for women pilots in the Indian Airline Industry. Finally the paper is concluded with the identification of suitable measures need to be initiated by the industry to encourage women to pursue career in core jobs and strive for their career growth.Research approach: The study is non-empirical in approach and relied on secondary data. The views and concepts presented in this paper may further help in conducting an empirical research. Rising role of women in Airline Industry: The present scenario of Airline industry is quite different from industry how it was just 10 years ago. The highly massive and technical industry highly dominated by the male employees has transformed into customer driven business where social skills are gaining supremacy over engineering skills. The massive attitudinal and structural changes in the Indian industry due to heavy competition and globalization made the industry to bring many reforms in their policies to open doors for women. Women are playing a much

ELK Asia Pacific Journals ? Special Issue ISBN: 978-81-930411-0-9

greater role in the newer, usually low cost,

airlines. Many airlines are hiring female

employees not only for the cabin crew but

also for cockpit. The following table depicts

the number women as pilots and co-pilots

in Indian commercial airlines.

Table: 1 Women Pilots in Indian Airline

Industry

Airline Women Women Total

captain Co-

women

pilots pilots

Jet

61

133

194

Group

AI

61

110

171

Group

IndiGo 39

88

127

Spice 16

43

59

Jet

GoAir 8

19

27

Source: DGCA

Major challenges for women in the

Indian Airline Industry: Though women

successfully flew many intimidating planes

and broke gender barriers still certain

barriers are coming in their career paths.

They are discriminated with respect to their

salary packages and in their career

progression. The following are such

challenges which are being faced by many

female aviators especially in the Indian

Airline Industry.

Financial barriers: The cost of flight training is dramatically increased in the past two decades. In India the cost of training is approximately ranging between 10- 20 lakhs. Moreover the flight training institutions are located only at a very few places in India. But in developed countries like America, students who want to pursue their careers in airline industry, a loaning facility is made available widely by many financial institutions. But in developing countries like India flight training cost is a major issue. Loans for this training are being offered by the various financial institutions in India. However these are not

widely spread across the country. Even if the loans are offered they are not attractive. But the flight training is a pre-paid training. The students (both male and female) having strong financial backgrounds alone are able to pursue their career in this field. Thus students belonging to low income families are suppressing their strong desire of flying. Cultural barriers: This is the major impeding factor for women who want to pursue their careers as pilots. Especially Indian culture plays a vital role in the development of women pilots. Gender stereotyping is one such cultural barrier. It emerges from family roles and prevailing culture. The sex-typical tasks are leading to gender stereotypes. Though many Indian women are slowly venturing into such challenging careers like defense, Indian police services their career growth is being hindered by these gender stereotypes. Likewise flying jobs are also stereotyped as roles meant for male. Despite of the above fact if any women professional aspire a bright career in the airline industry as a pilot, the society will start deflating her femininity.

Physical and Psychological barriers: Flying jobs requires physical and mental stamina. The differences in the physical dimensions like body height arm length etc between men and women may demand some additional arrangements to be made in aircraft cockpits which ultimately incur additional costs. These physical traits not only affect the aircraft design but also performance of the pilots. Psychological traits which are very much required for pilots appears to be more among the male than their counterparts. Traits such as risk taking ability of men in quite adverse flight situations will be more among the male pilots than the female pilots.

Family and Motherhood responsibilities: In India women consider motherhood stage as the most precious stage in her life. The

ELK Asia Pacific Journals ? Special Issue ISBN: 978-81-930411-0-9

pregnant working women in any other industry may continue her job till the last few days of her delivery. But the same may not be possible for women pilot. Neither it is good for her to fly in her early stages of pregnancy nor in the later stages. Even the rules of airlines will not allow to her to fly. Both women in cockpit and in cabin are grounded for certain period even after her delivery. This ultimately affects her career progression. The long working hours, erratic schedules will not allow her to pay proper attention to her family, parental care and childcare.

Work-culture barriers: Since for a very long time Indian airline industry has been dominated by men naturally the masculine work culture is found. The language, rituals, norms etc are typically favoring men. For instance, cocktail parties organized by the management for reducing workplace stress often will lead female pilots in an inconvenient state. In fact such practices will enhance their stress levels because of familial or societal pressures. In addition to this in majority cases they don't get enough support from their male counterparts. Male pilots behave egoistically with the female pilots and their judgment skills are never been respected by their male counterparts. Besides this it's quite eccentric to state that in some situations the other female colleagues in cabin crew seems to be less supportive to female pilots. Initiatives of management to encourage Female aviators: Many industries in India have realized the significance of female employees in their organizations. Even Indian airline industry is coming forward with very positive initiatives to encourage women to be more visible not simply in cabin but in cockpit also. The initiatives of management of airline industry are as follows: Gender sensitivity in the Workplace culture: Previously the employee related

policies and practices in the Indian airline industry were based on the assumption that employees have a dependable support system at home, managed effectively by their wives to take care of their familial responsibilities and also the personal needs. Thus enabling them to dedicate all their energy for the organization. Many experts of Aviation industry agree that industry is formulating insensitive gender policies. For example many woman pilots get an unfair deal when they decide to have children. They have to take a long break in their career thus restraining her from career progression. Due to the emergence of female pilots into the industry assumptions and practices of the industry need to be revisited in order to keep pace with the changing times. The management should be sensitive to their needs and should try to reduce the financial burden on them during their pregnancy by offering them required financial benefits. Training and Developmental initiatives: Apart from the technical training, management may take certain training measures focusing on creating a greater supportive environment for female pilots. It is observed that most of the female pilots were not properly treated by their male counterparts. The male pilots always are doubtful towards the competency of female co pilots, this may lead to quite alarming in adverse flight situations wherein pilots need to be more cooperatively and collaboratively tackle the situation. Therefore management should include gender sensitivity training programs in the Crew Resource Management. This promotes teamwork and helps in enhancing relationships among the air crew members.

Crash courses for the female re-joinees: The senior leaders in management may provide critical exposure, constant mentoring to those women employees who took a break on maternity grounds. This may energize them to strive for their career

ELK Asia Pacific Journals ? Special Issue ISBN: 978-81-930411-0-9

ambitions and stimulate them to continue their careers. Management may invite such female pilots and urge them to rejoin. Further there is need for conducting crash courses to such re-joinees in order enable them to catch-up the links which they have lost during their leave period. Women Grievance redressal systems: Sexual harassment is one of the reasons why very less women pilots are visible in India. The women in the cabin crew also experiencing sexual exploitation by their male counterparts and the seniors. Sometimes they have to face bitter experiences even from the customers. Hence an effective systems need to be established for addressing these grievances. This ensures high retention of female employees in the industry. Moreover strict enforcement of sexual harassment policies is also very much required.

Prospects for women pilots in the Indian Airline Industry: Dynamic changes in the industry created multiple opportunities for women pilots. There were times wherein women who is passionate towards flying at most can try for an airhostess job. But now the demand among woman pilots to change primeval airline policies is getting stronger. Now passionate women for flying may dare to dream as captain of a flight, with elegant dress and attractive salary. The following are the various opportunities for women that may prompt women who desire to have a career in the Airline Industry. Family support: Indian family system can be perceived as a major strength for those women who want pursue a career in airline industry. Women can entrust the responsibility child rearing and caring to their parents or in?laws. This can be considered as a major opportunity by women who want to become and progress as successful pilots.

Cultural Changes: Gone are those days where lot of discrimination among the

children based on their gender was prevailing. Over a period girl child education was undermined by the parents and their family members. Thanks to government and the NGO's for initiating several measures for changing the mind sets of the people. Now a days girl child is not only encouraged to undertake professional education but also to do challenging jobs in the industries like defense, police, space research, Aviation. This is yet another opportunity for those girls who are passionate towards flying jobs. Even society is feeling privileged to have such brave and dynamic personalities around them. Management support: The Airline industry is undergoing great a shift in their current profile. More women-receptive employers are emerging in the industry. It became more customer oriented thus sport a higher complement of women. Therefore the management of airline industry is initiating several measures to develop women adaptive cultures. Many initiatives like training and developmental programs, counseling and mentoring, gender specific policies etc., are undertaken to encourage women to pursue their career in flying and for their career progression. Conclusion: In India women are playing a

vital role in the development and the

success of various industries over the past

century. They are showing their mark in the

airline industry too.. Today what is needed

for their further progression is the

continued support from the management of

airline industry. She can be much more

progressive if enough support is also

extended to her by the family and the

society. Hence a deeper look at the changes

that are incorporated in the industry, society

etc., occupies a paramount place.

ELK Asia Pacific Journals ? Special Issue ISBN: 978-81-930411-0-9

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