Scholarships abroad to help Saudia fill talent gap

RIYADH: Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) has always been keen to encourage and support talented national cadres, the vice president of fleet management and agreements at Saudia, Abdulrahman Altayeb, said.
"Out of its keenness to support talented Saudis in various fields, Saudia has cooperated with Airbus Middle East and TAQNIA Aeronautics for launching 'Entaliq with Airbus' program," Altayeb said at a press conference recently.
He pointed out that the airline aims to expand its fleet to 200 aircraft by 2020, which requires pumping more qualified national cadres into aviation industry in the Kingdom.
"To achieve this, Saudia has set a number of qualifying programs for young Saudi cadres to ensure they are fit to work in the carrier's various sectors," he added.
Moreover, Altayeb noted, investing in national human resources is one of Saudia's top priorities. This comes in line with Saudia's vision (SV 2020) which is being implemented in coordination with the Ministry of Education through the Custodian of The Two Holy Mosques' Foreign scholarship program, allocating 3,000 scholarship for the study of aviation science and 2,000 scholarship for aircraft maintenance.
"Saudia has launched a special talent management program in collaboration with SAP to improve the services provided to staff and develop the work of HR departments and achieve the strategic goals of the organization," he added.
He also revealed that 90 percent of technical jobs at Saudia (i.e., maintenance and pilots) have been Saudized, adding that the fleet currently has 124 modern aircraft of various models and types.