By Hussain Hazazi
Okaz/Saudi Gazette
JEDDAH — A second Saudi woman pilot who has been accredited by the General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) said she cannot find work as a pilot in a Saudi Arabian airline.
Yasmin Al-Maymani said she always wanted to become a pilot.
“My family was very supportive of my journey to become a pilot ever since I graduated from high school. I had high grades in high school and I could have been a doctor or an engineer but I always wanted to sit in the cockpit and steer a plane,” said Al-Maymani.
She said she went to Jordan after high school to study aviation.
“My family paid for my tuition and I got my license within a year. I came back to Saudi Arabia and searched for a job as a pilot but couldn’t find one. So I ended up taking an administrative job at Rabigh Aviation Academy,” said Al-Maymani.
She added that after a while she became head of pilots at the academy but she never flew a plane.
“I continued attending several training sessions and I even renewed my license. I was approached by an American airline to represent them in the Gulf. I accepted their offer and they offered to cover 50 percent of my tuition if I were to continue my studies in aviation,” said Al-Maymani.
She added that she then continued her studies for a year and a half.
“I came back to Saudi Arabia in 2013 after my study abroad and accredited my degrees with the General Authority for Civil Aviation. The authority granted me my accreditation and my license but I still cannot get a job as a pilot in a Saudi Arabian airline,” said Al-Maymani.
Hanadi Zakaria Al-Hindi, 38, is the first Saudi woman to become a commercial airline pilot. Al-Hindi was certified to fly within Saudi Arabia in 2014. She passed her pilot training and exams at the Middle East Academy for Commercial Aviation in Amman, Jordan, in June 2005. She was awarded a 10-year contract by Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal’s Kingdom Holding Company as a pilot of his private jet.
