Devanshee Mishra, Assistant Officer in HAECO Global Engine Support’s (“GES”) Commercial Department, is one of a growing number of women rising through the ranks of what was once a traditionally male-dominated industry. Devanshee came to Hong Kong from Abu Dhabi in 2018 to study Electronics and Information Engineering. After falling in love with the city, she decided to stay and pursue her interest in aviation by applying to join HAECO’s Graduate Trainee programme. At HAECO GES, she works on the out-of-station maintenance tasks the department supports and has also had the opportunity to use her degree studies to contribute to HAECO’s digital landscape, with initiatives aimed at streamlining the team’s daily operations.

Devanshee says that despite its seven decades of history in the aeronautical engineering industry, HAECO has a forward-looking, positive attitude to recruiting young talent to bring in innovation and a fresh perspective, and the company scores well in terms of gender equality in the workforce. “I definitely see a lot more female staff in the front line, and my department last year was almost entirely female”, she says. “I have never felt like the odd one out at HAECO just because I am a woman. We may not be 50-50 yet, but we are definitely headed in the right direction.”

Her interest in championing diversity and inclusion led Devanshee to take up the role of chairperson of the HAECO Ethnicity Network. “Currently HAECO is at a unique stage, with a large influx of talent from across different cultures and ethnic groups. Our network’s vision is to make everyone feel included and cultivate a sense of belonging. We organise events and volunteering campaigns with NGOs such as Zubin Foundation – a longstanding Swire Trust partner that focuses on ethnic minorities in Hong Kong. We also work closely with HR and senior management to highlight issues ethnic minority staff may face.”