'ATC's only concern is 100 per cent accuracy, always'

When an ATC sits before the panel and holds conversation with pilots of air-borne flights, the only concern is to be 100 per cent accurate and nothing else matters, the first woman Air Traffic Control head Shyamali Halder said. Halder who took over as the general manager of ATC of N S C Bose International Airport here told PTI on Friday that since lives of passengers and crews are involved, the focus of those working in an ATC cabin is to direct pilots for safe landing.

"When you are on the job, the only thing which matters is your accuracy and not gender. But certainly I wish more and more women show interest to be ATCs in coming days," she said. Halder, who was among the first batch of air traffic controllers who had joined Kolkata airport in 1990 and underwent one year training before her first posting in 1991, is, however, happy that more women are showing interest in this profession.

"Once you have been recruited and undergone training means you are capable for the job. There is nothing like that you have to prove yourself as a woman. The thought process remains the same for every ATC, to fix and correct any error on the pilot's part... to ensure that an aircraft lands safely," she said. When she had started her career, there were two women in ATC Kolkata. Altogether nine women had joined as air traffic controllers then. At present, there are 39 women of the total 309 personnel in ATC Kolkata, Haldar said.

The daughter of an All India Radio station head, Halder had cracked all the three jobs she had applied for in 1989 but opted for the job of an ATC "as I was fascinated by the sight of aircraft and the buzz about an airport...flights arriving and departing". "My father was a great motivator," Halder said.

Ever since she was put on the job, Halder had been posted in various airports in the eastern region, including Ranchi, Agartala, Guwahati and Kolkata. Asked to mention an experience worth remembering, Halder said, "thankfully there is no such incident in my career as our job is to nix such possibilities by correcting any possible error on time. I repeat, we have to be 100 per cent accurate".

All pilots are given instruction in English which is the common mode of communication with code words and phrases, she said. The mother of a daughter, who is preparing for UPSC exams, Halder wants her to be mentally strong.

"She wants to be a civil servant. But whatever she becomes in life, the key is to be a strong-willed person, she said. A senior AAI official said, "Halder has always accepted challenges and outperformed. She will be a great team leader".