On the occasion of International Civil Aviation Day, Women in Aviation, International, (WAI) a non-profit organisation that skills and empowers women in the aviation industry has announced the launch of its India Chapter at the Embassy of the United States of America. The India chapter pioneered by Radha Bhatia, Chairperson, Bird Group and mentored by CJ Collins, Senior Representative-South Asia, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will connect, educate and empower women across all verticals in the Indian aviation and aerospace industries.
Radha Bhatia, Chairperson, Bird Group said, “I believe that the Indian aviation sector offers immense opportunities for women to touch heights in their careers when provided with adequate guidance and support. With a firm belief to engage, educate and empower women through various initiatives to augment inclusive growth, I together with CJ Collins initiated the formation of India chapter of the Women in Aviation, International. The India chapter will provide women aspiring for a career in aviation to connect, engage and draw inspiration across all verticals such as commercial, operations, engineering, financial and human resource to achieve their dreams.”
CJ Collins, Senior Representative to South Asia, Federal Aviation Administration added, “With the launch of WAI India chapter, we aim to educate, train and recognise women in aviation industry while empowering them with necessary skills and avenue of growth. Our goal will be to highlight career avenues in verticals which are largely dominated by men force such as manufacturing, leasing, law, engineering, MRO. ”
The India chapter of the Women in Aviation, International was jointly inaugurated by Richard R Verma, the US Ambassador to India and Secretary Rajiv Nayan Choubey, Ministry of Civil Aviation in the presence of its 15 founding members.
WAI was founded in 1990 as a non-profit organization to encourage the advancement of women in all aviation careers, and has more than 12,000 active members worldwide, with chapters located in eleven countries. This is the first WAI chapter in the South Asian region. The members represent a diverse mix of professions related to aviation namely Neelam Pratap Rudy; Dr. Shefali Juneja, Director, Ministry of Civil Aviation; Neelam Mathews, senior correspondent Aviation and Defence, Travel and Tourism, and Engineering, News Record; Dr. Ranjana Kaul, partner at Dua Associates, Chitra Sarkar Retired Executive Director Air India; Kiranjeet Jain, Vice President- Marketing, GMR, Captain Preeti Singh, pilot with SpiceJet and Shweta Singh, deputy chief flight operations inspector, DGCA.
