RIYADH — Fulfilling its ambitious vision to build a team of highly qualified Saudi employees, flynas, the Kingdom's national carrier, is playing a leading role in the training and development of Saudi youth of both genders to take their place in different fields of the aviation industry, including the airline's prestigious Future Pilots Program. Wael Al-Sarhan, Director of Marketing & Communication at NAS Holding, said:
“NAS Group strongly believes in Saudi manpower and is totally committed to training and employing talented Saudi nationals. We have every confidence in the high capabilities of Saudi youth and give talented individuals every opportunity to succeed at flynas, where we have already achieved a Saudization rate of 60 percent in different administrations and positions. By implementing this developmental approach flynas is building its own assets with a loyal and professional team. Capt. Mansoor Al Harbi, Executive Director of Flight operations at flynas, said the Saudis represent 80 percent of the first officers' team at flynas and pointed out that 70 young Saudi first officers have graduated from the Pilots Cadet Program since it was launched. He added that flynas plans to have 150 Saudi co-pilots by the end of the program and the company takes care of all the candidates' expenses. flynas is also training young Saudis as flight attendants. The national carrier has now 111 Saudi flight attendants in his team and it is continuing to hire and train more Saudi candidates on a regular basis. Adding to the diversity of its programs, flynas also has an Aircraft Engineering Training Program (AEMP) in which 28 Saudi trainees are currently studying. “The AEMP is a highly intensive training program that is an opportunity for young Saudi technicians to gain the internationally recognized EASA 147 certificate. And we plan to have 150 Saudi engineers by the coming five years,” Sarhan further said. flynas is committed to supporting Saudi youth and is confidently placing the future success of the airline in their hands. — SG
