Sky's the limit for women pilots.

Byline: From REBECCA TORR in Aqaba, Jordan 

IT was quite a shock to her family when Bahraini mother-of-two Wa'ad Al Dossary announced that she wanted to become a pilot, but after seeing her passion and determination their scepticism quickly turned into support and admiration, she explains.

The 30-year-old always had a passion for travel and the airline industry, but becoming a pilot was never an option.

She married Osama when she was 19 and had two boys, Khalifa, now aged 10, and Salim, seven.

She studied travel and tourism at Gulf College and went onto work for Bahrain Airport Services (BAS) as an administrator, for Bexair as a customer service adviser and as a travel agent at Al Amal Travel Agency.

But it occurred to her five years ago that she should train as a pilot.

"In 2004, I was on a business trip in Dubai and I heard about a lady who was flying an aircraft and then I thought maybe this is something I could do," she told the GDN.

"I told my husband straight away and at first he laughed because he thought I was joking. It took me a week to convince him, but then he said, 'okay, I will support you'.

"My father said, 'no, you will break your family', because he was concerned about my children, but he is really proud of me now."

After getting the go-ahead from her family, she obtained a loan from Bahrain Development Bank (BDB) and applied to Ayla Aviation Academy, Aqaba, Jordan.

Ayla is approved by Gulf Air and the airline provides students a monthly allowance of BD200 and six flights per year between Jordan and Bahrain. The airline also pays for the medical test that is required to qualify for the course.

The 18-month full-time commercial pilot licence and instrument rating training course costs $90,000 (BD34,000) and consists of ground school and flying training based in Aqaba. To qualify for a commercial pilot licence, a student must complete 220 hours of flying and 860 hours of ground school.

Ms Al Dossary said her husband's support had been incredible because she had to leave her family in Bahrain to live in Aqaba for 18 months to attend the training course

She said being a pilot as a mother allowed her children to travel and fly with her.

"My boys really love it (that I am a pilot), they tell everyone at school."

Ms Al Dossary began the course with Ayla in October 2007 and was one of 14 Bahrainis to graduate as a commercial pilot at a ceremony held in Aqaba yesterday.

Heady 

Her father, husband, children and in-laws were at the graduation to greet her.

"It was a dream and I achieved it," she said.

"I would like to continue studying and get a managerial position and who knows in 10 or 15 years time if they need a lady minister for aviation I would go for it."

Ms Al Dossary now hopes to work as a pilot for Gulf Air.

Another Bahraini woman to graduate yesterday was 25-year-old Fatima Hassan.

Ms Hassan said Gulf Air had expressed an interest in taking Bahraini graduates from Ayla but there was no guarantee.

"We are now waiting for the big opportunity," she said.

"We have achieved great things so far and I really want to work for Gulf Air, I don't want to work for anything else, it's my national airline, so I want to work for them."

Ms Hassan said she fully enjoyed the training course adding that she did not face any obstacle as a woman.

"If someone is married it's hard. It's not easy being away the whole time," she said. "The job is not right for this life, leaving your children and working."

Ms Hassan said she could work on the ground if she became pregnant and this was always another option.

Ms Hassan advised women wishing to take up flying to follow their heart.

"You need to be strong and depend on yourself and don't let anything stand in your way."

Ayla graduate Bahraini Abdulla Al Khan said he did not see any difference between men and women pilots, as long as they could do the job.

"We have three women in our class and women instructors and they do a great job," he said.

"We are all pilots, for me it doesn't matter that they are women, it just about quality."

The 23-year-old said he had never really thought about becoming a pilot until a couple of years ago but he always enjoyed travel and adventure.

He initially thought he would be a banker and studied banking and finance at the Bahrain Institute for Banking and Finance (BIBF) and then joined a degree course in business informatics at AMA University.

In 2004, he took a break from the course to work for a year as a translator on British and US navy ships that were based in the Gulf.

When he returned to the university, he heard about the opportunity to become a pilot through BDB and Ayla.

"My closest friend Ali bin Ali is a first officer for Gulf Air, so I put it (becoming a pilot) in my mind and I started asking him questions and I liked it.

Heady

"My mother was worried but my father was very supportive and so were my two sisters and brother."

He said the whole experience at Ayla had been fascinating and had been a confidence booster.

Mr Al Khan said he would be applying to Gulf Air and couldn't wait to start the job.

"I am really looking forward to the job itself, to have say 200 people relying on you to deliver them to a place, it's a nice thing, they trust you. You will also see different countries, cultures and people, it's interesting."

[e-mail]

Copyright 2009 Gulf Daily News

Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company