Lady of the sky

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Aysha Al Hamli

Captain Aysha Al Hamli never considered herself a future role model when undergoing pilot training. In an industry dominated by men, Al Hamli's only desire eight years ago was to fulfil a lifelong flying ambition.

"I was always fascinated with airplanes as a child," she says. "When I looked up into the sky and saw an aircraft fly, I would always ask ‘how is it doing that?'"

It's a subject that Al Hamli can now explain, having trained for eight years to become the UAE's first qualified female pilot. In 1999, she joined the Royal Jordanian Air Academy to attain her private and commercial pilot licences and instrument rating certificates.

By 2001, Al Hamli had also secured the certified flight instructor and certified flight instrument instructor accreditations. "The initial training was just basic stuff, which at the time was fun for me because I was young and enjoying it," Al Hamli says. "It then became more mature and I had extra responsibility, but it gets easier as I grow older and gain experience."

While studying for flight training qualifications, Al Hamli was also developing her piloting skills on board an A200. During the past eight years, she has accumulated some 2100 hours experience and continues to fly. She has also completed several other pilot training courses, including the Young Ambassadors Program in the US and United Nation System's testing in Geneva. For Al Hamli, learning English was just as important as gaining her license and qualifications. "It's one of the requirements to become a pilot because your education is all based on English technical terms," she says. "I have learned the language since I was 15 years old but it was imposed on me back then - to fly I had no choice.

It was difficult for me at the beginning because I needed to translate every single word and you can't find the technical term in the dictionary for some, but you eventually get used to it."

Despite her credentials, Al Hamli initially struggled to find a job. "It wasn't too difficult to get involved in the flying school but it was very tough to find a job right away because I was very young and inexperienced. It was discouraging at some points because I was exhausted after applying for so many positions - I'd been through a lot of physical, mental and technical exams and felt drained."

The regular rejections took their toll, with Al Hamli putting her pilot career on hold in 2001. To keep herself busy, she studied social and behavioural sciences at Zayed University. But the desire to fly eventually proved too strong.

After 12 months studying, Al Hamli was determined to fulfil her ambition at the second attempt. "My licence started to expire and I realised that university wasn't right for me - I needed to fly. I couldn't just stay at school and study." Getting into the industry before her licence expired was another factor behind Al Hamli's renewed interest. "The licence expires after a certain period of time and you have to keep current in order to maintain it," she says. "You have proficiency checks every six months and other tests every year.

"In the UAE, the licence runs out depending on which company you work with. I realised while at university that mine was going to expire soon, which is when I started becoming more aggressive about getting a job with one of the airlines."

Al Hamli's tenacity paid off, with Abu Dhabi Aviation (ADA) enlisting her in 2003. Her role was to pilot Dash-8 200s for the company, which transports workers and equipment to offshore oilfields in the Middle East. The experience was invaluable, enabling Al Hamli to hone her flying skills while studying at Zayed University.

Nevertheless, Al Hamli admits studying and working full time was a struggle. "I usually had to work five days a week at Abu Dhabi Aviation and then two days a week at university," she says. "When I had days off at university I flew and when I wasn't flying I concentrated on my studies to balance things out."

Earlier this year, Al Hamli left ADA to join UAE General Civil Aviation's (GCAA) air transport department as senior regulation officer. Her duties involve accident investigation, establishing bilateral agreements with other nations and advising on new regulations. It's a challenging role that requires an aptitude for complex technical and political issues.

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