On the occasion of International Women’s Day 2018, female staff at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) took command of operations for the entire airport between between 6 a.m. and 2 p.m.
A team of 36 women handled the Airport Control Center (AOCC), took charge of aviation safety, guest relations, and terminal operations. The Airports Authority of India deployed 14 women to manage the control tower.
Former naval officer Pusha Pande, who is currently assistant general manager (air side operations), said, “I supervise all air side operations, which involves various tasks, including runway clearance, operating apron control vehicles to guide the aircraft when required, surveillance and making sure that staff follow required security measures.”
Another employee Rachana K., who was earlier with guest relations, was trained for six months to handle surveillance in air side operations. On Thursday, she worked with her colleague Keerthana, who was operating the 'follow me' vehicle, which helped international flights reach the main apron after landing.
On Thursday, the Air Traffic Control staff handled 245 ATMs (Air Traffic Movements) during their shift. Every day, KIA sees 635 ATMS.
A team of 36 women handled the Airport Control Center, took charge of aviation safety, guest relations, and terminal operations at the Kempegowda International Airport on Thursday to mark International Women’s Day. | Photo Credit: G_P_Sampath Kumar
Sharing her experience, Terminal Operations manager Neha Singh said, “Every day is a different experience for us, from assisting passengers who are in need of medical emergency to responding to passengers who come up with queries on immigration checks. We also communicate with various security agencies if there is an emergency.”
Chief Human Resources officer Sajit T.C. said that women employees underwent training for six months and got the required clearances from various security agencies. “KIA has a staff strength of 900-odd personnel, of which 15% are women. We are taking measures to increase the number of women employees.”
He said that KIA does not discriminate along gender lines, and will hire qualified personnel be they men, women or transgenders.
Self bag drop system
KIA is planning to introduce a self bag drop system from July. At present, it takes 90 seconds for a passenger to generate a boarding pass and drop his or her luggage at the check-in counter.
To reduce the time, KIA is planning to install 16 self bag drop machines. General Manager (Daily operations) Arunchalam S.V. said, “At present, airline staff are doing the job of issuing boarding passes, weighing bags and sending them for scanning. In future, machines will do this job.”
All that a passenger has to do is keep the luggage in the machine, which will generate a boarding pass, verify the passenger details, weigh the luggage and print bag tags. This, he added, will reduce the time taken to between 45 and 50 seconds per passenger.
Police set up two outposts near women’s colleges
To mark International Women's Day, the south division police on Thursday set up two pink outposts at women's colleges to provide security cover to students. Sharanappa S.D., Deputy Commissioner of Police ( south division), inaugurated the outposts near NMKRV Women's College and BMS College for Women in Basavanagudi.
The outposts will be operated by women personnel from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., with the aim of providing security cover to students.
