Plane and Simple Podcast

India leads the world with the highest percentage of female pilots. But this milestone wasn't reached overnight.
In this episode, we sit down with Capt Nivedita Bhasin, an icon, a pioneer and truly a champion who has been at the forefront of Indian aviation for half a century.
Some firsts associated with Capt Nivedita Bhasin:
youngest woman pilot in history to command a commercial jet
first female pilot to command the Boeing 787 Dreamliner
was the co-pilot on the first all-women crew flight on a Fokker Friendship F-27 in 1985 and the first Boeing all-women crew flight in 1989

In this episode, Capt Bhasin shares her incredible journey, starting as a determined 15-year-old at the Delhi Gliding Club to retiring as a 787 Dreamliner Captain for Air India.
We dive into:
50 years in aviation, from the "raw" days of flying the Fokker Friendship with primitive instruments to delivering India’s second-ever Dreamliner from the Boeing factory
the challenges of being the first female pilot in India to navigate motherhood and maternity policy
Fascination with the Boeing 747.. and much more.

Whether you are an aviation geek or an aspiring pilot, this conversation is a masterclass in persistence and passion.

In this special episode, we celebrate one year since the launch of Plane and Simple.
To mark the occasion, we’ve turned the tables; instead of our usual deep dives, we are joined by guest Hardeep Singh—a lawyer with aviation credentials—who helps us tell our own "reverse story"
In this episode:
We journey back to our earliest memories, from handwritten tickets and battery-operated 747 toys to first flights on Alliance Air and Jet Airways.
We also reveal the "origin story" of the podcast itself - how a chance meeting over bag tags led to a partnership between two entrepreneurs obsessed with the "nerdy" side of aviation.
The Filtered & Unfiltered: Editor Sankalp joins the conversation to discuss his favourite moments from the first year, including the iconic Jet Airways episode.
The Future of Plane and Simple: First look at the 2026 P&S Calendar and our new contributor status with FlightRadar24.
We’ve moved past saying "safe flights" and embraced "Happy Flying". Tune in to find out why.

Join hosts Jitesh and Arpit alongside Darrel Chua, who helped build KrisWorld & start the IFE revolution at Singapore Airlines.
Going back to the 1990s, Darrel takes us behind the curtains of the industry he helped define. Discover the absolute amazing and crazy things that happened during the birth of modern IFE.
Hear insider stories about:
The creation of KrisWorld and the massive investment that it required.

Developing the first generation of fully digital Audio Video On Demand (AVOD 1.0), requiring intense R&D and convincing a wary Hollywood about digital encryption and early window content

Technical challenges needed to move from proprietary software (like Windows 3.1) to Linux open source.

How a fatal Swiss Air 111 crash related to an IFE system forced massive changes in electrical power consumption and certification across the industry

From analog video tapes and x386 computers running Windows 3.1 to today’s digital streaming, this is a fascinating deep dive into the engineering, politics, and incredible innovation that changed the way we fly.

In this episode of Plane and Simple, hosts Arpit and Jitesh welcome Behramjee Ghadially, an expert with 15 years of experience in Route Network Planning and fleet planning, having worked for carriers in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.
In this episode we cover:
Business Models: We explore the difference between point-to-point and the globally more successful hub-and-spoke model (pioneered by KLM).

Profitability & Planning: Behramjee outlines the three levels of airline profitability, from covering Operating Cash Costs to achieving Net Profit by covering fixed costs and overheads. He also contrasts how route planning is influenced by private ownership versus government ownership.

Good vs. Bad Routes: Hear specific examples of what constitutes ill-conceived route planning (such as recent Ethiopian Airlines launches) versus successful strategy (like the Air India Bangalore-London shift to Heathrow).

Market Deep Dive: A significant portion is dedicated to the unique characteristics of the African market (high luggage requirements, last-minute bookings) and the burgeoning Indian market (trader traffic, medical tourism, and cargo potential).

Fleet Strategy: Learn how aircraft selection (including the A220 and E95E2 regional jets) affects route viability, and why maximizing belly cargo capacity is vital for wide-body profitability, especially on India-GCC routes.

Behramjee offers candid advice during our rapid-fire session, including strategic expansion points for Indigo in Africa and Central Asia.

Ever wondered what happens behind the scenes before your flight even leaves the gate?
We go behind the scenes with Damian Szumski, who is a licensed flight dispatcher & has worked in all aspects of data in aviation, including working at Flightradar24.

In this episode we cover:
Damian's journey into aviation as a 9 year old to working at Flightradar24.

the intense pre-tactical planning required for flight dispatchers

the "secret sauce" behind location tracking of aircraft.

the operational importance of NOTAMS (Notice to Air Missions)

importance of Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP), the standardized "books" containing crucial rules, charts, and procedures for using a country's airspace.

why standardisation of data is lacking in the industry, often forcing airlines to use different combinations of tools

what the future of flight planning & data would look like in the age of AI.

This episode is essential listening for anyone who uses the Flightradar24 app or is curious about the insane volume of data that powers aviation.