An all-woman cockpit crew flew into Indian aviation history on Saturday when it operated the inaugural San Francisco-Bengaluru flight.
“This will be the longest commercial flight in the world to be operated by Air India or any other airline in India…The total flight time on this route will be of more than 17 hours depending on the wind speed on that particular day,” Air India said in a statement.
The direct distance between the two cities at opposite ends of the world is 13,993 km with a time zone change of around 13.5 hours, an Air India official said.
Flight AI176 departed from San Francisco in the USA at 8.30 pm (local time) on Saturday and will land at the Kempegowda International Airport at 3.45 am (local time) on Monday.
Air India’s woman power flies high around the world.
All women cockpit crew consisting of Capt Zoya Aggarwal, Capt Papagari Thanmai, Capt Akansha Sonaware & Capt Shivani Manhas will operate the historic inaugural flight between Bengaluru & San Francisco.@airindiain @MoCA_GoI pic.twitter.com/HKT6IYo2Dw
— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) January 9, 2021
#FlyAI: Cockpit crew discussing the logistics to firm up the final flightplan for navigating the longest non-stop flight from San Francisco to Bengaluru. pic.twitter.com/VXAV5e7Goo
— Air India (@airindiain) January 10, 2021