Nivedita Bhasin becomes first woman B-787 Dreamliner pilot

Senior Air India pilot Capt Nivedita Bhasin has become the first woman to command the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner which landed in New Delhi Wednesday, an airline official said.

Bhasin, 50, brought the sleek new Dreamliner aircraft (VT-AND), the second to be inducted by Air India, from US' Charleston to the Indian capital, as the only trained woman pilot in the world for the B-787.

Incidentally, Bhasin, who joined the erstwhile Indian Airlines, now merged into a common entity Air India, in 1984, had created world aviation history by commanding a commercial jetliner at the age of 26 on Jan 1, 1990, on the Mumbai-Aurangabad-Udaipur sector.

While the first B-787 arrived in India Sep 8 and the second Wednesday), the third B-787 is expected to arrive in India by the month-end while five more are likely to join Air India fleet by the end of this year.

Air India launched its first commercial service Wednesday with the B-787 flying between New Delhi-Chennai and then it was deployed on the Delhi-Bangalore route.

The carrier will receive a total 27 B-787s -- advanced, fuel efficient and eco-friendly aircraft capable of flying up to 16,000 kms non-stop -- over the next five years.

Nivedita lives with her husband, Capt Rohit Bhasin, and their two children in New Delhi.