Group Captain Abhinandan Varthaman, the Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter pilot who became a household name across India following his aerial engagement with Pakistan in February 2019, has taken premature retirement from the IAF and joined Goa-based regional carrier FLY91 as a commercial pilot, according to multiple reports citing officials familiar with the matter. Varthaman formally left the Air Force on March 31 after serving for nearly 22 years, before joining the private airline in August.

Varthaman first rose to national prominence on February 27, 2019, when, then a Wing Commander, he was involved in an intense aerial dogfight over the Line of Control, a day after IAF Mirage 2000 fighter jets struck a Jaish-e-Mohammed training facility in Balakot, Pakistan, in response to the Pulwama terror attack that killed 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel earlier that month. During the engagement, Varthaman shot down a Pakistani F-16 fighter jet moments before his own MiG-21 Bison was struck by a missile, forcing him to eject over Pakistani territory. He was subsequently captured and held in Pakistani custody for close to 60 hours before being released and returned to India.

For his conduct during the engagement, Varthaman was conferred the Vir Chakra, India's third-highest wartime gallantry award, in 2021. According to his citation published in the Gazette of India in December 2019, the honor recognized the "exceptional sense of duty" he displayed while courageously engaging enemy aircraft despite being significantly outnumbered during the encounter. The episode made him one of the most widely recognized officers in the Indian Armed Forces, and he was later promoted to the rank of Group Captain in December 2021.

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Following his transition to civil aviation, Varthaman is currently undergoing the type training required before he can begin operating commercial flights for FLY91. Once his training and the necessary regulatory clearances are completed, he is expected to fly the airline's ATR 72-600 turboprop aircraft on regional routes, potentially including the carrier's Goa-Hyderabad sector. FLY91, which began commercial operations in March 2024, currently operates a fleet of six ATR 72-600 aircraft from its two operational bases in Goa and Hyderabad.

FLY91 has confirmed Varthaman's association with the airline but has declined to release further details, with the company stating that information regarding individual employees remains a private matter. Varthaman himself has not issued any public statement regarding his transition, consistent with the notably low public profile he has maintained in the years since the 2019 engagement, during which he has rarely spoken publicly about either the dogfight or his subsequent military career. His move into commercial aviation marks a new chapter in a professional journey that has kept him closely associated with flying, even as he steps away from the military service that first brought him widespread national recognition.

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