Captain Zoya Agarwal: 'I've had to really fight to show the power of women in the aviation sector'

Captain Zoya Agarwal (Photo courtesy @ZoyaCaptain/Twitter)

Popularly known as #bharatkibeti, Captain Zoya Agarwal is a renowned aviator with several honours and awards to her credit. Professionally, she is an Indian commercial pilot and commander who has flown for Air India since 2004.

Her talks on channels, such as Ted/TedX, BBC, CNN, Forbes, are a source of inspiration not only to aspiring female pilots and the young generation, but to all those who dare to dream but are held back by others' and their own scepticism. Edited excerpts:

Tell us about your educational background and professional ambition.

Hailing from a middle-class family, my dream of becoming a pilot was received with a lukewarm response from my parents. After completing high school, I pursued two full-time courses for three years. During the first half of the day, I focused on a science degree at St Stephen’s College and then dedicated the latter half of the day to aviation classes. I remember studying even under the streetlights to complete assignments when there were power cuts. Initially facing disapproval, after I topped my aviation college, my parents agreed to enroll me for the pilot course so I could pursue my dreams.

What kind the professional challenges you faced, in terms of gender discrimination, in your field?

In all honesty, I was the fifth girl to join Air India, and today we are sitting at a global percentage of 5 per cent of the world's female pilots being Indian. There was plenty of sexism in the Indian aviation industry, and many airlines would not even consider hiring women pilots till as late as 2016.

Women play a dual role. We have our profession and we also need to balance that with life at home. An airline, therefore, bears additional expenses when they need to support women on maternity leave. Aviation has no room for error, there is a great deal of training required when women are back from maternity leave, making it very expensive to uphold. I've had to really fight to show the people around me the power of women in this sector and eliminate the gender stereotypes that revolve around aviation.

Were you treated differently because you are a female pilot?

Unlike a lot of other airlines in India and the world, which were not accepting women at all, Air India believed in equal opportunities. My airline has been an equal employer since 17 years ago, which is huge. I am grateful to not having been treated poorly by my airline on the grounds of my gender. There will be, and always were, people who did not believe in me, and I used that as a driving force to ensure that I am always on top of my game. It all comes down to hard work, dedication and passion.

Captain Zoya Agarwal

You made aviation history for successfully navigating your team on India's longest non-stop commercial flight making you the first woman in the world to fly across opposite poles. Any other proud moments?

I steered a four-member cockpit team and all-female crew from San Francisco to Bengaluru. The feat made me the first Indian female pilot to fly over the North Pole, covering a record-breaking distance of approximately 16,000 km and flying non-stop for 17 hours. The welcome we received at the Bengaluru airport with banners and applause from the Air India team was immensely heart-warming and rewarding.

Other proud achievements were in 2021, when I was chosen by The United Nations as its Spokesperson for Generation Equality, and UN Women flagged off International Youth Day with me, the first time ever a female pilot from Air India has been represented on its platform.

Any memorable or cherished moment in your career?

There are many moments in my career that have simply been indelible, for instance, the most memorable would be when I captained a flight that flew both my parents to San Francisco to celebrate my father’s birthday. It was a surprise for them as I arranged cake for him on the airplane.  They were in tears and that moment I'm going to take to my grave. I was also a team leader of the government’s Vande Bharat Mission to evacuate Indians from 12 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. I can’t forget the time I landed in Mumbai from San Francisco, I witnessed tears of joy from the passengers on my flight who were stuck in foreign countries for far too long.

Your advice to future female aspirants in the aviation field.

My one crucial piece of advice would be: In the cockpit and outside of it — set a goal, be focused and work hard to achieve those goals.

There’s no room for distractions and diversions if you want to be in this line of work. You need to be determined about what you want to do and take intentional steps to reach the stars. The sky is the limit, literally. Read impossible as I'm possible, because every single reality in this world begins with a great dream and every great dream begins with a great dreamer, that lies in all of us.