Prem Mathur is the first

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n woman commercial pilot and started flying for Deccan Airways. She obtained her commercial pilot's licence in 1947. In 1949, she won the National Air Race.

Early life

Mathur was born on 17 January 1910.

Career

Mathur was rejected by eight airlines before she got a job at Deccan Airways in

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

in 1947. She was offered the job at the age of 38 where she became the first Indian woman to fly a commercial plane. She received her license from the

Allahabad Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

Flying Club. She flew her first plane as a co-pilot. During her career at Deccan Airways, she flew high-profile people like

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...

Lal Bahadur Shastri Lal Bahadur Shastri (; born Lal Bahadur Srivastava; 2 October 190411 January 1966) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1964 to 1966. He previously served as Minister ...

and Lady

Mountbatten The Mountbatten family is a British family that originated as a branch of the German princely Battenberg family. The name was adopted by members of the Battenberg family residing in the United Kingdom on 14 July 1917, three days before the Br ...

. Mathur wanted the full command of the cockpit but was denied the same by Deccan Airways, even after fulfilment of the required flying hours by her. Soon after, she moved to

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

where she became G.D. Birla's private jet pilot. After that she joined

Indian Airlines Indian Airlines was a state-owned airline in India that later became a division of Air India Limited before ultimately ceasing operations. It was based in Delhi and focused primarily on domestic routes, along with several international servic ...

in 1953 and worked there for the rest of her career span.

Awards

In 1949, Mathur won the National Air Race.

Personal life

Mathur married Hari Krishna Mathur who hails from

, Uttar Pradesh and they had six children together. Mathur died at the age of 82 on 22 December 1992.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mathur, Prem Aviation pioneers Indian aviators Commercial aviators 20th-century Indian women 20th-century Indian people 1910 births 1992 deaths Indian women commercial aviators