Melbourne Airport marked International Women’s Day with a groundbreaking celebration of women in aviation, honouring their vital roles in the air, on the ground, and on the airwaves.
The spotlight was on Air India’s all-female crew, which operated the inbound AI308 service from Delhi and the outbound AI309 flight back to India, with both the flight deck and cabin crew entirely composed of women.
The celebration extended beyond the flights themselves. On the tarmac, the aircraft was serviced by a female ground crew, while female air traffic controllers managed the flights in the sky. It was part of a joint initiative between Melbourne Airport, Air India, and Airservices Australia to showcase the incredible contributions of women in the aviation industry.
Air India’s efforts in promoting female empowerment in aviation were further highlighted as flight AI308 also saw female engineers, security personnel, hub control staff, and rostering staff working behind the scenes.
India leads the world in the percentage of female flight deck crew, with over 15 percent of the nation’s commercial pilot licences held by women, compared to about 10 percent in Australia. Air India, in particular, has made impressive strides with 16 percent of its flight deck positions occupied by women, alongside nearly 15 percent of its leadership roles.
Melbourne Airport CEO Lorie Argus spoke to the progress and challenges of women in the traditionally male-dominated field. “Flights like these show that anything is possible for women in aviation today,” Argus said.
“Whether you want to be the CEO, a pilot, a safety officer, a refueller or an Air Traffic Controller, aviation has a breadth of diverse and exciting career paths for women, which simply wasn’t the case when I started my career in aviation 30 years ago. The saying ‘you can’t be what you can’t see’ is true, and I hope shining a light on these amazing women inspires other young women to follow in their footsteps.” She continued,
“But I also look forward to the day when we no longer need to call out these roles, because we have an equal representation of women in our aviation workforce.”
Air India CEO and Managing Director Campbell Wilson expressed pride in the airline’s commitment to diversity. “Air India Group has been dedicated to building a workplace where diversity is celebrated, and every employee is empowered to reach their full potential,” Wilson said.
“For us, diversity is strength, driving collaboration and efficiency.”
Airservices Australia CEO Rob Sharp also highlighted the importance of diversity within his organisation, noting the pride felt by female air traffic controllers at Melbourne’s Air Traffic Control tower in facilitating the all-female flights. “In our leading industry role as an air traffic navigation service provider, Airservices is committed to fostering diversity and inclusion in our workplace, as well as in the wider aviation industry,” Sharp said.
He added, “International Women’s Day is a great opportunity to celebrate the talented women across our organisation, from our air traffic controllers through to our aviation rescue firefighters and engineers, and women leaders.”
“Airservices is making significant strides forward in gender parity: we now have 50 percent women representation on our Board and 49 percent of our air traffic control line leaders are women.”
This unique event at Melbourne Airport not only celebrated the accomplishments of women in aviation but also showcased the power of diversity in shaping the future of the industry.
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