Maliha Sami also spelt Maleeha Sami is a former commercial pilot from Pakistan. In 1990, she became the first woman from the country to fly a commercial airliner as first officer (1990).[1]

Background edit

Sami is the only daughter amongst six siblings hailing from a conservative Muslim family from Quetta, Baluchistan, Pakistan.[2]

Career edit

Sami worked for the Civil Aviation Authority of Pakistan (CAA) for more than six years, where she flew small, twin-engine aircraft as a navigational co-pilot.[2]

After 1989, Maliha was called by the Pakistan International Airlines to attend formal pilot training.[1] Amongst her batch mates was Ayesha Rabia Naveed, who would go onto become the first woman to captain a commercial airliner.[3] Sami flew her first flight as first officer in 1990.[1] In February 1994, Maliha became the first Pakistani woman pilot to operate a scheduled wide-body Airbus A-300 flight, on the Karachi-Quetta-Islamabad run.[2][4][5] Sami was also the first Pakistani woman pilot to operate a scheduled Fokker flight on the Karachi-Panjgur-Turbat-Gwadar sector in 1990.[2][6][7] Maliha became first woman pilot in the company to fly an Airbus A310 in 1996.[8][4][5]

Sami also attended several refresher and training courses in the United States.[2] She has also attended an intensive three-week training program in Kuala Lmpur, Malaysia.[2]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c "Pakistan's legendary Fly Girl is no more". gulfnews.com. Retrieved 2020-12-07.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Breaking new ground at 30,000 feet". South China Morning Post. 1994-03-23. Retrieved 2020-12-07.
  3. ^ "Sky is the Limit". Newsline. 2017-03-10. Retrieved 2020-12-11.
  4. ^ a b Sulaiman, Ghazala. "14 Pakistani Female Pilots Who Dared to Conquer the Skies! | Brandsynario". Retrieved 2020-12-07.
  5. ^ a b "History of PIA - Pakistan International Airlines". historyofpia.com. Retrieved 2020-12-07.
  6. ^ Khalid, Lubna. "Women - flying high!". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 2020-12-07.
  7. ^ "Women: to infinity and beyond! ·". HerCareer. 2016-03-07. Retrieved 2020-12-07.
  8. ^ 1996-01-31T00:00:00+00:00. "Pakistani first". Flight Global. Retrieved 2020-12-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)