Akasa co-founder Neelu Khatri on the ad that made her join the Indian Air Force: Storyboard18 - Share The Spotlight
Khatri, who joined Akasa in 2021 as co-founder, came out of the Indian Air Forces as a Wing Commander. At Storyboard18's Share The Spotlight event, Khatri shared snapshots of her journey and the ad that launched her career.
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Neelu Khatri, co-founder and SVP Akasa Air, who was a part of the Indian Air Force before she joined the commercial airline as a co-founder, said she never had the luxury to fail. Khatri was speaking at the first-ever edition of Storyboard18's Share The Spotlight, where she was joined by Naiyya Saggi, group co-founder and Board Member at the Good Glamm Group, Jyoti Bharadwaj, founder of TeaFit, and Suta's co-founder Sujata Biswas.
“I did not have the luxury of failing. The only thing that was very clear in my mind is what I did not want to do, which is to get married in that small town where I was born, in Jabalpur. The moment you finish your graduation there, you typically end up getting married,” said Khatri.
Khatri, who co-founded Akasa in 2021, came out of the Indian Air Forces as Wing Commander.
Interestingly, it was an ad for the forces that first prompted Khatri to sign up. Her first-ever flying experience was in a MiG.
Khatri recalled the coincidence of seeing an ad in the Times Of India. It said, 'Do you have it in you? Indian Air Force decides to induct women in the ground services.'
"And I was like I want to do it," she recalled.
“In those days, the idea of a soldier in people's minds was always man, bulky, etc. My parents would have never thought that a woman could be a soldier so they allowed me to give the exam thinking that eventually she will get married to the guy we choose,” she added.
Khatri later was inducted to the Indian Air Forces in the first batch of women, alongside 17 others. The Akasa co-founder also shared the struggles she faced as a woman in the Indian Air Force.
“I'll tell you my experience when we were in uniform, the javans wouldn't salute thinking that we only need to salute male officers. We women were used for decoration purposes, especially in those days, we were made to stand in front with crisp clothes and caps and stuff to salute all VIPs especially coming from different countries,” she added.
Neelu Khatri is the co-founder and SVP International of Akasa Air. She has over 25 years of professional experience and is an ex Indian Air Force Wing Commander from the privileged initial batch of women officers back in 1993.
She was previously with Honeywell in India and worked in KPMG as a Director for more than 5 years in the Civil Aviation and Aerospace industry and has published many thought leadership documents on the industry’s policies. Khatri is Senior VP and leads international operations, entrusted with successfully launching and managing new international destinations at Akasa Air.
