Etihad graduates record number of Emiratis from training programme

A total of 280 students, mainly Emirati, and the highest number to pass through the airline’s fast-track employment programme to date, were honoured Tuesday evening at the Future Leaders graduation ceremony in Abu Dhabi.

Cadet pilot Rasha Al Musallami quit her job as an assistant bank manager to train as a pilot with Etihad. Ravindranath K / The National

A cadet following in the footsteps of her pilot sister, and a prize-winning mum-to-be were among a record number of Emiratis to graduate from an Etihad Airways training programme.

Two-hundred-and-eighty students, mainly Emiratis, were honoured on Tuesday night at the Future Leaders graduation ceremony in Abu Dhabi.

It was the largest number to pass through the airline’s fast-track employment programme.

The ceremony was attended by Hamad Al Shamsi, vice chairman of Etihad, and James Hogan, the carrier’s president.

The programme included 22 different careers with the company, from pilots to ground staff.

Etihad Airways employs more than 2,700 Emiratis across its global operations, but aims to speed up its employment over the next five years to recruit more than 6,000 nationals by 2020.

Emiratis are the No 1 nationality group among the carrier’s employees in the UAE.

Among the latest crop of newly qualified recruits was cadet pilot Rasha Al Musallami, 29, from Abu Dhabi, who decided to quit her job as an assistant bank manager to train as a pilot at Etihad’s Al Ain training college.

Now, as a second officer, she will make her first commercial flight to Jaipur on Friday aboard an Airbus 320.

Ms Al Musallami said she was encouraged by her sister Huda, a fellow pilot with 10 years’ experience and now a captain with the airline.

“I am so excited, very happy. I had always dreamed of flying and loved just sitting in planes,” Ms Al Musallami said.

“This was a chance to do something special with my life. At first, everything was so different. The course in Al Ain had nothing to do with my previous work experience. It was all so new and I was very scared that I would not make it.

“But this course changed me a lot. I have become stronger as a person, more responsible. I like to really challenge myself and want to learn more. At last, my dream has come true.”

Fellow prize-winner Al Shaimaa Al Ameri, 24, also from Abu Dhabi, will take up a management position at Etihad. Ms Al Ameri, whose two-year-old son Khaled watched her graduate, is expecting her second child in January. But that has not stopped her, she said.

“It was difficult, juggling family and studies, but I had my family and my line manager supporting me all the way, through the highs and lows.”

The business graduate believes training programmes such as the Etihad scheme provided just the challenge that young Emiratis needed.

“It’s quite a responsibility and a challenge, as the company brings together 145 different nationalities from different backgrounds and with different ways of working.

“Etihad has always believed in Emirati talent, so I felt I had to prove myself against all these different nationalities, to show that I could do the job. I’ve learnt that it’s important to have an open mind and learn to work together.”

The graduating class consisted of 86 cadet pilots, 82 technical engineers, 37 graduate managers, 13 airport operations managers, five sales managers, 53 Fursati Foundation programme graduates, and four graduates from Etihad’s graduate management programme, Sabre.

Fursati, operated in partnership with Abu Dhabi Tawteen Council, is looking to recruit more than 500 Emiratis during the next two years for entry-level positions with the airline.

Mr Al Shamsi said: “The UAE, our esteemed President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, along with the support of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and the Etihad Airways leadership, have together presented the graduates with a wonderful opportunity.

“It is an opportunity for them to go out and become leaders – leaders of this business and leaders of our great country.”

Mr Hogan said: “Etihad Airways continues to invest in the training and development of UAE nationals, and these future leaders will go on to play a key part in supporting the long-term development of the airline.”