Sky is the limit for Aisha, first Saudi female flight dispatcher

The first Saudi woman has received a flight dispatcher's license after passing a three-month course with flying colors.
Aisha Al-Jaafari received the license from the General Authority of Civil Aviation. She is also a reporter at a local newspaper and believes she is capable of doing both jobs.
“I really wanted to work in the aviation sector but found that there were few jobs for Saudi women. So I researched the matter looking for the best job that would suit me as a Saudi woman,” said Al-Jaafari. “I found that flight dispatchers play a great role in (scheduling) flights. You don’t need to meet people and your only responsibility is the flight and the pilot,” she added.
Flight dispatchers provide the necessary technical information to pilots before their flights take off.
Khaled Al-Khaibary, spokesman of GACA, said: “They are trained in specialized centers and work for aviation support companies. A dispatcher provides all the technical information to a pilot, including the flight plan. They are like assistants to pilots on the ground.”
Al-Jaafari did a three-month course and obtained her diploma from the Aviation Pioneer Academy in Jeddah. “We were nine women studying — five Saudis, three Syrians and one Yemeni. The academy was very comfortable and respected our gender,” she said.
“The course was very intensive and I learned a lot in those three months. I now know everything that I need to know thanks to my instructors,” she said.
Al-Jaafari said there were a few obstacles in her way including the fact that she has never worked in the aviation industry and had to deal with its technical terms. “I thought so many times of quitting but wanted to prove that Saudi women are able to work as anything,” she said.
“My father objected in the beginning thinking that my job would be in the field where I have to wave to (guide) the airplanes. I explained that my job would be behind a computer and speaking to pilots only, so he finally gave me his blessings,” she said.
Al-Jaafari is now applying for a job that matches her new career path.