https://www.msn.com/en-gb/lifestyle/tra ... spartanntpAt the Bombay Flying Club, which has courses for commercial pilots, the number of women in the classroom has grown to about 25 percent from less than 10 percent five years ago, according to the institute’s principal and chief instructor, C. Kumar.
“The society is changing and there is more acceptance about working in the aviation sector,” Kumar told Reuters.
Because pilot pay is based on seniority and flying hours under union agreements, it is one of the rare professions in India where there is no gender pay gap.
The starting salary, including flying allowance, for pilots there is $25,000 to $47,000 a year depending on the airline and type of aircraft. That is similar to the starting salary for corporate lawyers or architects.
About 13 percent of the pilots at IndiGo, among the fastest growing airlines in the world, are women, up from 10 percent five years ago, the company said.
The company provides day care and says it offers pregnant women office duties and an allowance equivalent to what they would have earned flying, helping them “constructively stay engaged with the profession.”
Earlier this year, the publication of the gender pay gap in the UK highlighted the gulf in equality at British airlines, with all above the country average median pay difference of 9.7 per cent. Ryanair’s figure was 72 per cent, easyJet’s 45.5 per cent and BA’s 10 per cent.
Caco