Arab Women Take to the Skies in Landmark Move
A Royal Jordanian flight from Athens to Amman could have passed off as any other routine trip except this RJ 132 flight was a little different as it boasted a female pilot leading an all female crew.
Carol Rabadi captained her first flight of 100 passengers after working as a co-pilot for six years, a move that has been hailed as a new era set to end the male domination of the Jordanian aviation industry.
“It was a wonderful feeling,” Rabadi told Al Arabiya. “It was a very safe and we proved ourselves as women without any problems.”
Most of the passengers on the flight were unaware that their plane was being flown by a woman and were taken by surprise after the trip.
“It is good to know that a woman was flying the plane,” said one of the passengers.
Carol Rabadi is the third Jordanian woman to be given the rank of Captain.
Meanwhile in related news the UAE saw two of its nationals become the first women to complete the first level of pilot training with the Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways.
The two women were expected to become fully fledged first officers, or co-pilots, in just eighteen months, a landmark achievement in the country, which for generations has kept women out of fields such as aviation.
Al Arabiya