Female Pilots in the Middle East?

[H-D]

Starting the search for my first civvie career and wondering if as a female I can apply to Emirates or any other Middle Eastern Airlines. There appears to be nothing on the website to say no, but I don't want to waste precious time filling in an application form if there is no chance of making it to interview. Also if there are any females out there did they find the training difficult due to their gender in comparison to a Western Airline?

Please don't start a guys v girls fight here.... I just have little experience dealing with arabs in a work environment and not sure how they view us.

Thanks for your replys!

I have 3500hrs with command experience on C130, glass cockpit.

[Beechslave]

There is another thread out there about female pilots at Emirates and there are some so obviously no problems there. I am also 100% certain that Etihad has female pilots. Not sure about other ME countries but I'm going to take a wild guess and say it would be hard for females to land a flying job.

[oz in dxb]

putting an application would not be a waste of time beechslave.
EK already has female pilots.

Not too sure about your C130 time. You would need to have pure jet time.
Maby I'm wrong

Oz

[Instant Hooligan]

No restrictions on females at EK, admittedly there are only now a handful here but 4000hrs total time with 2000 multi crew jet may be an issue.
http://www.emiratescareers.com/
Good luck.

[tbaylx]

As long as you meet the experience requirements i'm sure you will be considered the same as anyone else.

EK has a few female pilots now, the ones i've spoken with haven't seemed to indicate they had a rough time of it. 95% of the people you fly with at EK are expats here anyway, so you'd have the same treatment that you could expect in the UK once online. If you've dealt with the military then EK should be a breeze.

[H-D]

Great to get such quick replies!

Most airlines seem happy with C130 hrs and the 4000 may not be a problem when I have added in the taxy time that us mil types don't count in our hours and Emirates say they are considering applicants with less than 4000hrs, most of my hours are mutli-crew from C130.

I guess I will put in the app and see.... wonder if I can progress to LHS again....

[Bredrin]

Emirates, Air Arabia and Etihad all have female pilots. Good luck.

[MrMachfivepointfive]

I believe Qatar was faster than EK and EY to hire female pilots. Anyway: No problem. Also there are a couple of female F/O and captains in middle east business aviation as well. Anybody met captain Taq? (shiver!)

[ferris]

Bahrain Air has at least 1 female pilot.

[sirwa69]

My mate lives next door to a Gulf Air female pilot.
She's been with then for over a year now and she says she has no problems. Lovely litle slip of a girl from Belgium. :cool:

On On

[Captain_djaffar]

Candidates who are up to 500 hours below total and/or multi-engine jet hours are invited to submit their applications and may be offered the opportunity to attend a selection programme in Dubai. Successful candidates must, however, meet published minimum hours requirements prior to joining.

http://www.emiratescareers.com/

In the flight deck crew side menu,Short of our Minimum Hours Requirement section.
Can anyone please explain what they mean with candidates must, however, meet published minimum hours requirements prior to joining.


thanks

[616200]

It means that you need to have 4000 TT and 2000 JET to join but you can be 500 hours short of this requirement for your interview,provided you'll meet the minimum requirement upon joining...

[botaxgendeng]

yes they have some, even capts on 320.
but you need jet time. in ME some times is depend on your luck coz they change rules anytime.
one capt got lucky coz fom ATR now flying 320, :}
they Instructor should notice even only prop if they could handle jet on the sim assesment and other criteria why so crazy about jet time.
good luck:ok:

[Wizofoz]

At least in the past, EK has excepted Turbo prop time in 55T+ aircraft in leau of jet time.

[Sal-e]

Need ATPL licence and a couple of thousand hours will be all that is needed soon. Gulf Air has two female pilots, more at EK.

[bigmanatc]

Even some local fighter jocks about to go solo...times they are a changin...:ok:

[411A]

Royal Jordanian was the first, I believe, in the region, and they have several female Captains now, and at one time, a female DirOps...and I was told she took no guff from anyone.

Having operated into JED a few times with female First Officers, immigration/customs gave 'em a wide berth.
One time, as one of 'em was closing up her flight bag, I mentioned...'Ah, Loraine, the customs guy is staring at you very intently.'
She says...'Yeah, I know, he is looking right at my a**, with evil thoughts'.

[Lord Flashhart]

H-D
No problem about the girl thing, but for EK you NEED 2000 hr JET. I have a lot of mates with buckets of c130 time and they can't get a look in without the JET time.

[H-D]

Hmmm,

It would appear that my C130 hours may not meet the requirement then if they are crazy for the jet hours! I will prob sit back and see how the interviews go at this end in the UK.

Thanks all for comments. :ok:

[Sal-e]

Gulf Air prioritises type rated pilots and licenced nationals followed by jet experience, turboprop experience then every other pilot.
If I were you, I'd still fire away a CV because there is such a demand for pilots in the region (at least 160 for Gulf Air in the next year) that you stand a fair to good chance of getting a favourable reply.

[Mow]

Gulf Air has no problems with Female pilots, already few flying, and few second officers are soon joining.


You may apply for "Non Type Rated First Officers for A320 Fleet", if so... visit this link.... http://www.gulfaircareers.com/careers/gulfair/VacancyDetail.aspx?VacancyID=6558

All the best...:ok:

[CT7]

EY has, I think about 4 (W) pilots....

One probably getting her CMD in Nov/Dec if all goes well.

[noflare]

EY is certainly worth a shot, Im not sure how strict they are about jet time.
Sounds like they may have a lot of seats to fill soon!

Good luck:ok:

[mkdar]

Your gender is really irrelevant when it comes to getting a job in the ME. Apart from Saudi airlines of course.
I have noticed that if you want to join an airline in this part of the world, sending a CV is never enough, you need to know someone flying for them , even a line Captain will do, he chases it up for you and you will get there sooner than later.
At the moment, things “looks” very promising in the middle east as far as getting a flying job is concerned, all of them are hiring. Your hours are a big factor, not your gender.

good luck

[Wiley]

H-D, take a look at threads on M.E. airlines employing females from as little as two years ago and you'll see that everything is in a state of constant flux in the Sandpit. Where once EK was "never" going to employ females, it now does - and, as a few people have already mentioned, it has been absolutely seamless as far as I know, with the ladies fitting in with hardly a ripple.

I believe the same will soon apply to your Herc time. I know there has been a move among some senior people within the training world in EK to accept some recruits with only turboprop time, because there are some who recognise that jet time might not be as important as the experience a turbo prop pilot, particularly one who has been a captain, will bring with them.

My advice? If you want to come to the Sandpit, stick in an application. Currently, it won't get past the Indian clerk in HR/recruiting (in EK at least). However, keep updating it every six months or so, because I believe the 2000 jet requirement will go, the same way that 'no females' did.

Unfortunately for people in your position, recent events in the US with multiple airlines going broke or culling their pilot numbers rather savagely have suddenly put a lot more pilots with jet time and looking for jobs into the equation. However, if history repeats itself, as it has a habit of doing, (I believe) many if not most of those new applicants will leave their jobs in the M.E. and return to the U.S. first chance they get.

In closing, I should say that you should read some other threads on the M.E. forum here to see that there are currently some quite serious drawbacks to working in the Sandpit, not least of which is that it is no longer a way to either a quick command nor to building up a nest egg.

[KRUGERFLAP]

AL QATARIA AKA QATAR AIRWAYS hire female pilots. There at least 6 capt´s and F/O s, and they are hiring pilots like hell ,don´t be distracted by the req for EK.Once you seat in M.E for while you can go everywhere.And as you fly intl before,i think u can go direct to A330 or B777. Ethiad and Air Arabia are good as well,like Gul Air,who is climbing again.Here in the desert the weather is cool and fresh,LOL 44-46 today

Good Luck!

[scorpio]

QR has 3 W capts and around 3 or 4 fos on A320, and one on A300 and a couple on 330 .as for the req u can apply as non type rated but as fo cause direct entry captain with turbo prop time not possible unless ur connected :cool:

[wadefac]

Gulf air will take anyone ............don't be shy..........

because wa-de-fac......... anything goes :ok:

[Dashpilot73]

I wouldn't be so sure. I have 7000 hours of flight time. 5000 on a twin turbo prop dash 8 and almost a grand on the airbus now and my application got pushed by emirates because I don't meet "the min" requirements!!! Will flying another 1000k jet make me a better pilot???? doubtful..

Ps.. I was a crewchief on the herc for 13 years..

[saviboy]

"Seriously - everyone(not just females) should more seriously think IF they really want to come to the soooo open, friendly ME(especially to us "westeners"). Lifestyle is a big issue here, as well dealing with ancient laws and the locals. "

very true.
there are a lot of documentaries on youtube, espcesially about dubai.
I was really insterested about trying to get a job in the ME and after having watched some of these documentaries, I am still very enthusiastic but they certainly opened my eyes on certain things I was not aware of.
Anybody thinking about such a move should go to local bookstore and find litterature about the subject as well.
it is a must.

[Lord Flashhart]

Dashpilot,

Fact is you don't have Emirates min requirements, nothing to do with your gender. Crewchief on a Herc, so what, nothing to do with Wide body airline ops. Another 1000hrs on a jet might not make you a better pilot, but might give you time to get your attitude adjusted.

[Emelie]

Etihad F/O requirements A320:

1500 hrs total, 1000 hrs Efis multi crew jet time. Check Etihad requirements.

[H-D]

Thanks again.

Concentrating on the BA thing right now but if that slows because of the crunch I will start bombarding the ME. Really appreciate all the pointers guys!

H-D

[latetonite]

Give it a go at Omanair. They might give you a right hand seat in the 738. You will love it.

[sispanys ria]

Give it a go at Omanair. They might give you a right hand seat in the 738. You will love it.

That would amuse me since with my "male" military turbo time I didn't even get any reply from Oman...

[P.Clostermann]

Crewchief on a Herc?????

Boy oh boy,


with all due respect but overhere that is a s useless as tits on a bull!

Nothing to do with gender, all to do with attitude and experience in civil aviation!:=

[removeb4flight]

Emirates has hired several female pilots over the last two years, however, all of them have about 10,000 hours of glass jet time. As a minimum, you need 5000 hours total time. Not sure about the other airlines in the region. Hope this helps.

[KRUGERFLAP]

HUAHUAHUHAUAH 10000 hs of glass cockpit time.Complete B.S. i know at least 2 who enter there with the min.

[Gulfstreamaviator]

but not so easy for the females.

As an aside in Saudia Arabia, may a female Captain talk to her First Oficer. How can she complete the pre flight duties in Ops.
How can she discuss with the ground crew.
What about radio duties, can she talk to a male ATC officer, or will they just respond "Captain" or "Sir".
Just asking.
Only a little axe to grind.

glf

[BladePilot]

Even the UAE GCAA has female pilots on it's staff. Their Air Transport Manager is a lady who I have had the pleasure to deal with on licencing issues.
You'll have a great time in the UAE if your application(s) is succesful.

Good Luck.