“It’s been donkey’s years and I cannot
remember when Dr Saab gave me the
title, but I received it because I used to
volunteer to fly passengers in and out of
Srinagar during adverse weather
conditions,” the seasoned king recalled
while speaking to Kashmir Observer.
Born and raised in Srinagar, Kapil
Raina (57) came from a family of fair
reputation. His father, Jawaharlal
Raina, owned and operated a transport
company out of the city which he was
meant to join but enterprising with a
penchant for adventure, young Kapil
wanted to spread his wings further than
the limits of road-based transport.
He had his dadias his rock, who
supported him to chase his ambitions.
At 23, he applied for the commercial
pilot license (CPL) and cleared all tests
to claim his shot in the skies.
In 1998, he was inducted into Indian
Airlines, now known as Air India.Since then, Kapil Raina has led an
illustrious career spanning 30 years as a
commercial pilot.
He has travelled across the globe and
has over 22,500 flying hours to his
credit.
His approach towards his job has
always made him a stand-out, as the
former chief minister also called him
the ‘Pride of Kashmir’ paying tribute to
his services to the people of Jammu and
Kashmir.
In his early years, when he was elected
as the President of the Indian
Commercial Pilot Association, Kapil
Raina sought ways to leverage the
power and responsibilities bestowed
upon him by the position to the benefit
of local Kashmiris.
Identifying that Kashmiris frequently
travelled to Medina/Jeddah for a
pilgrimage to Mecca, and that the
absence of a direct flight to and from
Saudi Arabia was burdensome for many,
Kapil Raina negotiated with the
management of Indian Airlines to begin
flights connecting Kashmir and Saudi
Arabia during 2009.He successfully spearheaded the
mission and was able to start direct
flights to Medina and Jeddah, for the
first time from Srinagar.
“I have always had a lot of empathy for
my people. Even during storms or foggy
conditions, no matter how late it was at
night, I would opt to fly to help delayed
Kashmiri passengers. e route that I
started from Srinagar became known as
the ‘Hajj flight’amongst Kashmiris,
who are known to have benefitted
tremendously by that operation,” he
stated matter-of-factly.
is initiative has been the most
prominent feather in Raina’s cap for a
long time.e Hajj flight operation was
kickstarted by flying a modest aircra
to voyage people to Medina but it
quickly upgraded to using a Boeing
777, one of the largest airliners, for
transportation.
Kashmiri Muslims who had to make a
pit stop at New Delhi, were able to save
travel time and money due to this
Kashmiri Pandit’s proactive leadership.
11/05/21 Sanika Athavale/Kashmir Oberver
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