Progress for women in gaining the pilot roles and other positions in aviation has been slow in the Middle East and Africa, with only limited exceptions, according to speakers at last month's Aviation Africa 2018.
In Jordan, one of the most conservative societies in the Middle East, the prospects for women appear daunting, but Capt. Alia Al Twal, a first officer flying A320s on Royal Jordanian, with earlier experience on the A330, is the exception that proves the rule.
Al Twal is also Governor of the Arabian Section of the Ninety-Nines, the international organization of women pilots, which counts more than 5,000 women from over 40 countries as members. More than 100 of them, drawn from 20 countries, attended the Fall 2017 meeting of the Ninety-Nines in Cairo.
“Females are rarely portrayed as commercial pilots, and that is what we are trying to change,” Al Twal told a conference session devoted to women’s role in meeting future pilot demand.
The Arabian Section, through a joint program with Airways Aviation, which has foundation schools in Dubai and Kuwait City, announced earlier this year it had bestowed its first-ever scholarship on Algerian woman Hanane Chaabna, who is now a student at the UK’s Oxford Aviation Academy.
“Over the past five years, Airways has sponsored every annual gathering for the Arabian Ninety-Nines, and provided discounts and scholarships to 30 females, some of whom are [now] flying commercial aircraft,” Al Twal said.
Al Twal told the gathering that a number of her members in Saudi Arabia and Iran had faced resistance for pursuing careers as pilots. “They were getting threatened, their families were getting threatened, but they managed to go through and set an example by opening the path to other women. It is still challenging, it is still changing,” she said.
In Rwanda, where some 64 percent of members of parliament are said to be women, the role of women in aviation appears to be less problematic. The appointment by Rwandan president, Paul Kagame, of Yvonne Makolo as CEO of Rwandair in April, was further evidence of how women have achieved leadership roles in parts of sub-Saharan Africa.
“Women's involvement is very well considered in Rwanda. We have six women [who are] pilots at Rwandair. Rwanda is a good example of how women are promoted. Women leaders have been very successful in Rwanda,” said Sonia Kamikazi, corporate quality manager, Rwandair.
Angola’s Alcinda Pereira has presided with her husband, Nuno, over the creation of BestFly Flight Support in the capital, Luanda, which has grown from three employees in 2009, to 254 today. She said she didn’t see many women in her country standing up as leaders, or encouragement of women’s roles by the government.
“When women do something, they like to do it better. The job is more demanding for us, twice or three times more demanding for us as women. Here in Africa, it's four or five times more demanding than Europe or the U.S. The environment that we have to work in is completely different. I try to balance my point of view with [my husband’s]. The world needs a balance.”
