Highlights
- Ecstatic after bagging the job with Indigo Airlines a few weeks back, Aafrin said becoming a commercial pilot was her ambition right from childhood.
- Prior to Aafrin’s employment as a commercial pilot, Swathi Rao had made it as the first-ever woman pilot from Telangana.
The journey of this 28-year-old girl from her family’s grocery store to the flight cockpit of India’s largest airline is an inspiration. A success story everyone can learn from. Meet Indigo pilot Aafrin Hirani.
Flying as a commercial airline pilot is no cakewalk and requires intensive training and estimated hours of flying experience. Achieving it through years of dedication and hard work, Aafrin becomes the second woman from Adilabad, Telangana, to achieve this feat.
Her journey
Aafrin, the daughter of Aziz Hirani, owner of a local grocery store in Indervelli mandal centre, dreamt of conquering the skies, and now, is a pilot. Ecstatic after bagging the job with Indigo Airlines a few weeks back, Aafrin said becoming a commercial pilot was her ambition right from childhood.
“I was determined to excel in the field and to set an example for other girls. So, I opted for aeronautical engineering at a private college after completing intermediate in Hyderabad and schooling in Adilabad. I successfully completed pilot training in Australia for two years and finally realised my dream to ride an airplane,” Aafrin told Telangana Today.
Completing all the required training and sessions by 2020, her dreams of becoming a pilot were put on a pause due to the pandemic. Not discouraged by any of it, she waited eagerly till the day she reached the cockpit as an official pilot.
A report by The Siasat Daily stated that two years later, she was appointed as the second-in-command at the cockpit of Indigo Airlines. Soon after receiving the appointment, Aafrin thanked her family for the unconditional support they gave to her all those years.
2nd woman pilot Adilabad
Prior to Aafrin’s employment as a commercial pilot, Swathi Rao had made it as the first-ever woman pilot from Telangana. During a media interview, Swathi noted that the current education and loan systems are such that they do not offer much support to aspirants.
Despite these hardships, many women are making it to the position out of sheer perseverance. She had quipped that she would be happy to see more women from Telangana take up piloting as a career.
Hailing from the same district as Swathi, Aafrin saw her as her greatest source of inspiration. The way Swathi’s story inspired her into the field, Aafrin’s success story would hopefully motivate many more women to step into this field in the coming days.
