First female captain for UAE’s Etihad Airways
I’ve never understood bias against gender, race and social positions. Everyone has the same feelings, fears and joys. It would be better to not increase the pain of others but to lessen it and increase their joys. I find this article on female pilot interesting because what is so surprising the women can do everything men can. Males were females, females were males in previous lives, yet it’s the same consciousness that switches bodies. Just the bodies switch, the mind is the same one. Women and men have always been equal and are equal.
Tsem Rinpoche
Sophie Blanchard shares the name of a French aviation pioneer and has now become one herself — as the first female captain, or pilot in command, for Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways.
“I am very happy. It still is a pretty macho environment, but my colleagues here encouraged me a lot, and the flight attendants are very proud,” said the 33-year-old mother of two, a French citizen.
Blanchard joined Etihad as its first female pilot three years ago and last week took off from Abu Dhabi to London on her first flight as captain, sitting in the left-hand seat of an Airbus A330-200.
Her 18th century namesake was the first professional female balloon pilot, who even attracted the attention of French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte.
The modern-day Blanchard first flew an aircraft when she was 19, then joined her stepfather’s Belgium-based freight company as its only female pilot.
“We used to work under very extreme conditions. I was flying a very old DC-8, a four-engine plane that was built in 1962,” Blanchard said.
“Very often we just ended up with only three engines left, landing in airports where there was no help, by night, in spite of power cuts and sometimes with a storm. Now, I am actually resting a little,” she laughed.
Blanchard later joined an Icelandic cargo company that was leasing planes to Etihad Airways. When United Arab Emirates law was changed to enable women to sponsor their husbands for residence permits, she applied for a position at Etihad and was recruited in May 2007.
“It is a very male-dominated profession,” said Captain Richard Hill, the airline’s chief operations officer.
“In my career, I have flown with 10 or 15 women,” he said. “To survive or get to where they are they have to be very good at their jobs and they are exceptionally good pilots.”
Among Blanchard’s battles were changes to her uniform. She now wears better-fitting trousers and does not have to sport a male necktie.
“But I am not sitting in a cockpit to be a woman,” she said. “I am here to be a pilot. And our schedule has not been changed to accommodate us.”
“It is a challenge to make yourself respected as a woman. But the biggest challenge for me has been to have a family,” Blanchard said.
Many Gulf airlines, including Etihad, lack a programme by which women can go on maternity leave and undergo the training necessary to get them back up to speed upon their return. Hill did not rule out such a programme in the future.
Blanchard’s two children were born before she joined Etihad. She raises them with the help of an understanding husband and domestic workers, she said.
The number of female pilots with airlines in the region is on the rise. Since Blanchard’s arrival, Etihad has recruited 10 female co-pilots, Hill said.
Low-cost airline Air Arabia, based in Sharjah northeast of Dubai, has two female captains and three co-pilots, according to a spokesman, while Dubai’s Emirates Airlines has 16 co-pilots but no captains, a spokeswoman said.
Bahrain’s Gulf Air has four co-pilots, a company official said. And Qatar Airways has more than 15 female co-pilots and three female captains, according to one of the captains, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“It is amazing how well we are treated here. And when Qatari women see me in the cockpit, they suddenly have this big smile on their faces. They are really proud,” Blanchard said.
In Saudi Arabia, where women are not allowed to drive cars, Saudi Arabian Airlines recruited its first female pilot in 2005, according to local media.
Hill thinks the number of female pilots will continue to rise. “Ladies will come forward in increasing number to become pilots,” he said, adding: “We can see that with our recruitment for our cadet pilot programme.”
Source: http://news.malaysia.msn.com/top-stories/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4336288
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Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world. Gender equality is when people of all genders have equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities. Flying a plane is a very male-dominated profession, but somehow Sophie Blanchard a French national makes women world proud. She piloted Etihad Airways, the Abu Dhabi government-owned airline, been first flight piloted by a female captain. Since young , she is inspired to be a pilot, after going through many obstacles she took up a huge responsibility to be one. Nowadays more women are making an increasing contribution to the aviation industry worldwide. Women everywhere, should be given equal rights and opportunity, and be able to live free of violence and discrimination. May her story inspired more women taking up men roles. Well in Kechara we have a group women power working tirelessly . Thanks to them . Thank you Rinpoche for this sharing.
More and more to come. That’s good news! I’ve googled for more updates such as this https://www.emirates.com/media-centre/emirates-acclaims-the-women-flying-high-in-aviation/. Proud to see that women’s roles being appreciated in this aviation industry.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this article. It amazes me that so many females are doing the jobs of a male and sometimes even better and efficient. Only in the ancient times and some of the countries in the present still forbid females to study and come out to work. This is very unfair and it’s a waste of a hidden talent. Whether male or female everyone have their capabilities to excel in whatever field they choose.
With folded palms,
Vivian
In this era compared with past eras. Most women in the world are not to be seen let alone become pilots. But now I am not surprised at this article of women becoming pilots. n the world most of the high powered people now are women. In Malaysia there are also many women holding ministerial post in the Government. To name a few like Dr.Ng Yen Yen, Datuk Sharishat and many others.I feel the reason why most females are spinsters is because they feel most men cannot meet up to their expectations. There are two women power in KH I admire very much is Datuk May and Ruby Khong. They are the pillars for KH.
This article attract me the most. Obviously I’m a female. I am actually feeling injustice against the gender role of the female in this era all the time. The female position in the society has improved throughout our history, but there are still cases of exploitation against female in many places due to the value and custome of their society which dominated by male.
Husbands often takes wives for granted and thinking that homemaker wives have nothing better to do but to fuss nad emotional. Husbands hardly give a helping hands to their wives especially in househole and children welfare. Societies often ignore the importance of women in bringing up the children with good values. Social problems arise due to the breakdown and dysfuntional of the family. If husbands and wives do not know how to deal with each others through communications, understanding and efforts, what kind of children would we expect in the societies.
Out of my curiousity, why many lamas choose to be reborn as male but hardly in female form? Female roles are actually weaker sex in the society??? Please pardon if I you think that I’m rude to the lamas.
I believe “Women and men have always been equal and are equal”. However, this is only idealistic in our societies. How many cases like Sophie Blanchard in the world? Of course, this will be the example to demonstrate the capability of women for women to step out from their comfort zone. Women have been brainwashed by their social custom, beliefs and values and discouraged them from doing the so-called men’s jobs.
Thank you for this articles to create the awareness of men and women are equal. Many societies perceive women as subordianate, therefore the societies disrespect and dishonor women. This is one of my favourite topics.
I’m not entirely sure myself but let me hazard a guess – males have fewer obstacles in a male-dominated society. Women are judged more than men from more angles, as mothers, daughters, as a woman, etc. Women are criticised for many things that men are not criticised for. For example, if a woman is beautiful and is also successful, what is everyone’s first assumption usually? That she slept her way to the top, right? Why can’t it just be that on the basis of her abilities, she got to the top? Just take the story of Ms. Blanchard – she’s got to be EXCEPTIONALLY good in order to be respected.
Female are not the weaker sex but I think as a female, it will be more difficult for lamas to spread Dharma (especially in the Kaliyuga time) because people are already so reluctant to join any form of spiritual activity.
But what I am saying only applies to our physical form. Regarding mental form, like Rinpoche said, “Males were females, females were males in previous lives, yet it’s the same consciousness that switches bodies. Just the bodies switch, the mind is the same one. Women and men have always been equal and are equal.” To the Buddhas, there is no ‘male’ or ‘female’.
Thank you for sharing this article and Rinpoche’s comments on gender, race and social positions. All these labels are manufactured by society, which has evolved yet certain stigma and prejudices remain in the history. It’s refreshing to see that an airline company in the Middle East, which is traditionally perceived as discriminatory towards women, is hiring female pilots. I like what she said also – that she is there not as a woman but as a pilot.
Definitely, if we pit the strongest man against the strongest woman, the man would win. However, there are physically fitter women than men, and mentally men and women in general are equal. The differences would be on a personal level – whether a particular man or woman is fit to be a pilot would depend on the individual’s capability rather than gender.
Countering society’s discrimination works both ways – it can be very empowering but also if there are minority affirmation programs, people sometimes see it as unfair that a minority is being given a chance when the others do not. eg if women are given an official allocation of jobs just because they are women, men who may not have gotten into the pilot program may begrudge the women who achieved it. That’s why it’s said that it’s even tougher for women in the corporate world.
In Kechara, it’s quite interesting that many of the departments are headed by women – eg KMP, with Liaison Li Kim, KSK with Liaison Ruby, KH with Liaison Datuk May etc. but it was not deliberately engineered like that. Here, everything is on merit – literally and figuratively! I think it’s just the very powerful Vajrayogini energy here!