World’s youngest woman jet commander, Nivedita Bhasin lights way for women in aviation

Nivedita Bhasin shares her pioneering journey as the youngest female jet commander and advocating for gender diversity.

When Nivedita Bhasin first took command of a commercial jet at the age of 26 three and a half decades ago, the idea of a woman in the cockpit made many passengers uneasy. Now, her journey has become a blueprint for women seeking a place in India’s skies. “Family support and awareness about the sheer range of careers in aviation can change the destiny of thousands of girls,” Ms. Bhasin said during an exclusive interview with The Hindu on the sidelines of Wings India 2026 on Friday (January 30, 2026).

Long before gender diversity became a talking point at industry conferences, she had already made her way through the cockpit door. In 1990, she became the world’s youngest woman to command a commercial jet, taking charge of a Boeing 737 in an era when aviation was overwhelmingly male.

NIVEDITA BHASIN. File

Her dream took shape early in childhood in Delhi. “When we were asked to write an essay about what we wanted to become, I wrote I wanted to be a pilot. Many girls in the class laughed at me,” she recalled.

By 16, she had obtained her flying licence. “I got my driving licence after my flying licence,” she laughed. As a teenager, her days stretched from school in Chanakyapuri to a nearby flying club she passed by every day. Her mother would pack two tiffins, one for the school lunch break and another for the 2-kilometre long walk from the bus stop to the airfield where she learnt gliding.

Flying training in Patna followed, setting her on a steady climb through aircraft types and responsibilities, from the Fokker F27 to the Boeing 737, Airbus A300, Airbus A330 and eventually the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. She would go on to log more than 22,000 hours over a 37-year flying career, become part of the world’s first all-women crew commercial flight in 1985, and later serve as Air India’s first female Chief of Flight Safety.