SKY'S THE LIMIT

Anny Divya is the youngest Boeing 777 commander in the world. Anindita Ghosh chats with her SKY’S THE LIMIT

- Anindita Ghosh

When Captain Anny Divya, a pilot with Air India, became the youngest Boeing 777 commander in the world at 30, she was the toast of the world. There were accolades pouring in from every corner for having effortlessly commanded the wide-body twin-engine jet with a capacity of 396 passengers. For Divya, the achievement was the culmination of a long-cherished dream—one that was born in small-town, middle-class India.

The daughter of an army man, Divya grew up in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, dreaming of becoming a pilot even though she had never been on a plane in her life. For Divya, aviation seemed like a way out of her family’s straitened circumstances, and with a combination of luck, sheer determination, and the unfaltering support of her parents, Divya joined flying school—Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi (IGRAU), a pilot training institute at Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh—when she was just 17. Even though she was mocked for not being fluent in English, she finished training at 19, and got a job in Air India in 2006 on merit. Over to her.

What prompted you to become a pilot?

As a child, birds and their ability to fly fascinated me. I would stand by the window, stare at the glorious skies and wonder what it would be like to be up there.

Were your parents supportive of your career choice considering it wasn’t conventional?