This All-Female Flight Crew Just Made Airline History

An all-female crew has operated a passenger flight around the world for the first time, Air India has said.

The airline's all-female crew flew across the Pacific Ocean from New Delhi to San Francisco on Monday. The same crew then flew back to New Delhi across the Atlantic Ocean yesterday, completing their historic circumnavigation of the globe.

According to the BBC, the engineers, ground staff, and air traffic controllers who handled the flight were all women, too. Meanwhile, the airline has said it intends to operate other flights with all-female crews in celebration of International Women's Day on the 8th of March.

San Francisco Airport has shared some photos of the historic crew - who could be honoured in the Guinness World Records book - on Twitter.

This historic around-the-world flight celebrating International Women's Day is especially welcome coming from Air India, whose gender equality credentials have previously been called into question.

In September 2015, the airline was criticised for announcing plans to ground 125 mostly female flight crew for failing to meet the company's body-weight standards. Earlier this year, Air India also raised eyebrows by introducing a "women-only" section on domestic flights in a misguided attempt to combat on-board sexual misconduct.