Flying High

In an industry that is notoriously male-dominated, Etihad Airways is leading from the front. ELLE talks to three Indian women at the very top of the airline’s India operations, who are taking the carrier to new heights.

NEERJA BHATIA

Vice president, Indian subcontinent,Etihad Airways

A textile designer by profession, with a degree in maths and sociology, 56-year-old Mumbai-based Neerja Bhatia’s journey with Etihad Airways began in 2004 as a sales manager for western India. 15 years on, she spearheads the airline’s commercial activities in India, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, Seychelles and Sri Lanka, leading an all-women team that takes care of marketing, finance, cargo, and airport operations in the region. Marrying her former love, fashion, with her current responsibilities, Bhatia played a key role in leveraging one of Etihad Airways’s most illustrious recent associations in India—its 2016 agreement with WME | IMG. As a part of this initiative, Etihad Airways extended its support to 17 global fashion weeks annually, with India’s Lakmé Fashion Week being one of them.

Q: What, in your mind, sets Etihad apart?

A: The fact that our guest experience begins well before departure and lasts way beyond arrival; so not just our product, but our services too. For instance, the US pre-clearance facility which enables fliers to complete US immigration and customs at Abu Dhabi International Airport before boarding their US-bound flights.

Q: What do you like to do when you’re not working?