International Society of Women Airline Pilots
Inspire, Support, and Advocate
for female airline pilots
Nivedita Bhasin’s childhood dream of soaring through the skies took flight in 1979, when she began her journey in aviation as a Glider Pilot. In 1984, she made history by becoming India’s third woman Airline Pilot. At just 26 years old, she went on to achieve another remarkable milestone—becoming one of the youngest jet airline captains in the world.
As a co-pilot she flew the Fokker Friendship F27 and thereafter the B737, on which she transitioned as a Captain in 1989. Nivedita has flown the Airbus A300, & A330 as a Line Training Captain and a Type rated Instructor on the B787. She has held numerous management positions in her Airline, Air India, in the Operations department, Training and Flight Safety. She is a qualified Aircraft Accident Investigator, IOSA Airline Auditor, Quality, Safety and CORSIA Internal Auditor, as well as Safety Management Trainer.
She flew for 37 years and superannuated in July 2021 as the Chief of Flight Safety, Air India, having flown more than 22,000 hours.
She has won several awards during her aviation career. Notable amongst them being inducted at the International Forest of Friendship in 1990, an FAI World record for the fastest Commercial flight in a B787 from Washington DC to New Delhi in 2021, the Amelia Earhart Spirit award by Zonta Club of Bombay III, in 2021 and being Invested as Liveryman of the Honourable Company of Air Pilots, UK, in 2022.
She is deeply passionate about Aviation education & awareness and has served two terms as Director on the International Board of The Ninety-Nines, Inc., since 2022, ending July 2025. She is an active member of The Indian Women Pilots’ association, Women in Aviation International (WAI), Zonta International and the Aeronautical Society of India. Nivedita became a member of ISA21 in the year 1987, (Continuous membership since 2015) and received her Captain’s Club plaque in 1990 at the Washington D.C Conference.
She is a doting Grandmother to two grandkids aged 6 and 1. Her hobbies include Iyengar Yoga, Swimming, Cycling, Hiking and Photography.
Nivedita’s pioneering journey has inspired countless young dreamers, including her own children, who are now both airline pilots. As the first pilot in her family, she is a passionate advocate for aviation education and gender inclusion in aerospace. Looking ahead, she hopes to bring greater representation from the Middle East and Far East to ISA+21 and continue mentoring future leaders in aviation.
Brooke Rogers grew up around airplanes as the daughter of an aircraft mechanic but originally dreamed of a completely different career field. That was, until she got behind the shotgun panel of a 1970’s 172 complete with sidewall shag carpet that she knew she would pursue a career as a pilot. Brooke completed her private private course at a local flight school in Oklahoma then drove cross country to Salt Lake City to attend the flight program at Westminster University where she volunteered for a local WAI chapter, serving as President.
After completing her degree, Brooke moved to Dallas to flight instruct at a local school as well as do some freelance work. Finally, all her hard work paid off when she was hired for a first officer position at Envoy Air to the majestic E-145 in her first base at ORD (Chicago O’Hare). She spent a few years in the right seat before upgrading to the E-175 in the Dallas base. Shortly after completing upgrade training, she was bound for Atlanta and actualized her dream by becoming a first officer on the B-757/767 out of JFK for Delta Air Lines.
Brooke has been an ISA+21 member since 2020 and feels incredibly honored to be included in this community with such supportive and inspiring women. She is a mentor in the ISA+21 mentor program. Brooke always seeks to give back and extend her hand to help the next generation of female aviators as well as to serve her peers and mentors. She believe serving ISA+21 is a wonderful way to further engage in her goal of making the career an accessible and inclusive space for women to explore and grow in the aviation industry. It takes a village to facilitate change, and it is Brooke’s wish to do everything she can to see us succeed.
G’Day! Chrissy Beattie was born and raised in Australia and is now am living on a ranch in Montana with her husband and spaniel puppy.
Chrissy’s aviation journey started out after her late father passed away from Pancreatic cancer December 2008. He was a Test Pilot for the Australian Airforce and went to Empire Test Pilot School, then Qantas. His success and career has been her inspiration and has driven her to get to where she is today. He always told her that she could be anything she wanted to be, as long as she put her mind to it.
After high school, she studied I.T. and landed a role at a private hospital writing code for a cardiovascular program. When her father died, she wanted to feel closer to him so she booked a trial flight. Upon taking off, she immediately knew becoming a pilot had to be in her future. She worked multiple jobs at a time, (hospitality, A320/21 cabin crew, Aviator Magazine writer, etc.) to fund her aviation career. She was awarded a scholarship through the ‘Australian Women in Aviation program’ which helped her get my Private Pilots License. From there, she flew multiple trips around Australia, around two weeks at a time, exploring the outback and remote places to build up hours and experience until she got accepted into her Aviation Degree where she completed her Commercial Pilots License and Bachelor in Aviation.
Her first job was in outback Central Australia- Ayers Rock, as the Deputy Chief Pilot for a small scenic/charter company. After 4 years, she moved to New Zealand for a similar role. A year later, she found SkyWest as her next venture and landed in the USA, in June 2018. She was on the ERJ-175 and upgraded to Captain in 2021.
After attending the ISA+21 Atlanta Conference in 2021, she met the hiring team which led to her getting a job with United Airlines as a First Officer on the B-737! She has since been hired at the United training department, teaching sim on the B-737 and still flying a few days a month.
One of her side hobbies is home construction. She runs a little side business in Montana renovating houses and rebuilding decks, doing all the construction by herself. She loves hunting and fishing and exploring the world. Her husband Mark is an outfitter and also runs the outdoors portion of the working ranch they live on. With hunting and fishing being his profession, it’s a huge part of their lives.
Having received a female pilot scholarship as a struggling young girl, then getting my dream job at United as a result of attending an ISA+21 event, she holds these organizations close to her heart and knows how lifechanging a little help can be.
As a little girl, Natasha’s first flight was on a TU-154 in 1980 from her hometown of Magadan to Moscow. Although she fell in love with flying, she knew she could have never achieved her goal of becoming an airline pilot in the Soviet Union. She is forever grateful that her mother immigrated her family to the United States where she discovered that girls CAN and DO become pilots!
When she arrived to the USA as a teenager, Natasha did not speak English and had the responsibility of taking care of her seriously ill mother. Life was extremely difficult. She overloaded on ESL (English as a Second Language) classes in high school and worked three jobs to take care of her mother. She received an academic scholarship to the University of Washington and followed a pre-med path until she met someone who claimed that he was going to become an airline pilot. That piqued Natasha’s interest in general aviation and, with her mentor’s gift of a discovery flight, reignited the “sleeping flying bug” of her childhood.
Natasha transferred to Embry-Riddle to pursue a degree in aviation and after graduating, she flight instructed to build time. In 1999, she was hired at American Eagle Airlines and flew the ATR-72 in the Caribbean islands chain before transferring to the E-145 for the next fifteen years. In 2016, she finally reached her dream of becoming a First Officer for American Airlines, where she currently flies the A320 out of DFW.
Natasha has been an ISA+21 member since 2013, has assisted the scholarship program since 2018, and has served as the Scholarship Director since 2020. Since then, she helped establish the Francesca Norris Memorial Scholarship, created opportunities for co-sponsoring scholarships with flight schools and airlines, established working relationships with universities and colleges with flight training programs, and streamlined the scholarship application package and selection process. Through the scholarship program ISA+21 is changing the lives of women around the world and propelling them into the major airlines’ flight decks. Natasha pledges to continue working tirelessly to assist as many women as she can to achieve their dreams of becoming airline pilots.
Lauren Jones is a First Officer for Southwest Airlines based out of Houston, Texas (KHOU). Growing up in a General Aviation community gave her a firm grounding in what good leadership is. Having some amazing mentors guide her from childhood to adulthood, they showed her how to nurture the next generation of aspiring airline pilots so that she can now serve as a mentor not only with ISA+21 but also with EAA GirlVenture and through Southwest’s Destination 225° program.
In 2021, Lauren received the ISA+21 Francesca Norris Memorial Scholarship which by she earned her Multi-Engine Instructor Rating, propelling her into an airline career.
Lauren’s past leadership roles at Republic Airways, her UPS Internship, and her collegiate experiences have prepared her to serve the women of ISA+21. She is very honored for the opportunity to be apart of this amazing community.
In November 2023, Therese retired after 15 years, 10 months, 2 weeks and 3 days (but who’s counting?) from the best job in her life at Delta Air Lines. The last airplane she flew there was the A320, where she sat left seat for 2 1/2 years based in LAX. Prior to that, she flew the B-757/767, B- 737, MD88/90, CRJ, and the EMB120. Prior to Delta, she was at SkyWest Airlines for 7.5 years, and before that, spent 5 very long years as an impoverished CFI eating ramen while building flight time at SNA.
Therese has been a member of ISA+21 since 2019, has attended two international conferences, Dublin and Anchorage, and has had an absolute blast getting to know many of the terrific ISA+21 members.
Ella has loved serving ISA+21 for the past two years as a volunteer for ISA+21’s social media platforms under the direction of Communications Director, Erin Jackson. Ella has helped multiple board members with various projects over the years by using social media to create and distribute information for ISA+21. Her knowledge of content strategy and creation, video editing, and brand management, will no doubt help elevate ISA+21 as one of the premier aviation organizations.
As for flying, Ella is currently a First Officer for Delta on the A330 out of JFK. Before that, she flew for Envoy Air and was also a flight instructor at Middle Tennessee State University. She currently lives in Nashville, Tennessee and has a crazy pup named Nova. She is always on the go, seeking out new adventures, attending live music events, or snowboarding in the winter with the Delta Ski team!
Christina Halli is a longtime member of ISA+21. She has been a Delta Air Lines pilot for 33 years and currently flies the A350 out of Detroit. She has flown most of the aircraft in Delta’s fleet and been based at most of their bases. Before Delta, she flew the C-21 Learjet and KC-135A Stratotanker in the U.S. Air Force.
She lives in Erie, PA with her husband of 29 years, who is not a pilot. She met him when she was furloughed in the ‘90s. They have two adult children, a three-year-old granddaughter, and a redbone coonhound. When she is not flying, she spends time with family and friends.
Christina is passionate about supporting women airline pilots because she started her career in the airlines when there were so few of women. In a word, it was lonely! She has spent much of her career trying to make the industry better for women and is proud of the progress women have made. She finds it so fun to fly with and/or continue to connect with other women pilots!
Serving on the ISA+21 BOD is a logical next step for Christina to give back in her pursuit to help other women pilots.