I ndia produces more female pilots than any other country in the world, 12.4 per cent of the total number of pilots in the country are women.
The United States, the biggest aviation market in the world, trails with only 5.5 pc, according to the International Society of Women Airline Pilots, a US-based organisation with 600 members representing 90 airlines from around the globe. The developed world still leads in numbers of women pilots as the overall aviation market space in countries like the US and the United Kingdom is relatively larger than India, as the former have a bigger total staff of both men and women. In India, National Cadet Corps’ air wing, a programme formed in 1948, started training pupils to fly micro-light aircraft. The programme became very popular among women. It eventually helped educate girls about aviation. The progress was slow, but steady, and in 1990s the Indian Air Force began recruiting women pilots for helicopters and transport aircraft. This year they were allowed to take up fighter roles
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