My Future Endeavor !!

            Since everybody is assigned to talk about his/her future career desires, I will be writing about how I feel about the industry in my home country, what challenges it faces and how am I planning to contribute to the Saudi industry’s desirable maturity as a potential workforce element whose eager to make some aviation dreams come true. Doubtlessly, as long as aviation in any given nation remains a “high risk” industry, the need for this industry to remain “highly regulated” gets bigger day by day. For almost a decade now, I have found that without the establishment of a solid platform or ground to stand on, the industry gets weaker and less resistant to even marginal challenges. Let’s imagine the US aviation without the FAA. I can guarantee no one could even dare to debate that the industry could ever do better without having such a solid legal foundation.

            The word LEGAL leads me to start my main point of the regulatory environment or side of the Saudi aviation industry. As a “developing” country, Saudi Arabia was founded in 1932 and it is considered one of the fastest growing countries in the Middle East. The Presidency of Civil Aviation (PCA, the FAA Saudi equivalent) was separated from the Saudi Royal Air Force in the very early 50’s (FAA origins go back to 1920’s) and the first civil aviation rule was issued in 1953. In 1977, PCA name was amended to the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA). The reason behind mentioning this brief history about the Saudi GACA so that we can realize how young is this legal arm compared to its peers worldwide. From this perspective, I find myself so eager to join my country’s aviation regulatory body so I can help in the Saudi industry’s rapid growth and be part of it. And as an aviation manager with a decade of technical experience, I would love to play big roles in the Saudi aviation developmental projects and apply and implement what I’ve gained of theories and keys of success into those national efforts.

            To take a close look on how my country’s aviation industry is evolving, spend some time surfing this link about the major project that is taking place in my hometown Jeddah. Basically, GACA is working on renovating King Abdulaziz Int’l Airport (KAIA), a major airport that works as a gate to the two Islamic holy cities in the kingdom. An important thing that has to be pointed out here is that back in Saudi, and unlike the US, GACA owns and operates all national airfields and they’re the ones who are responsible to run, oversee and fund any operational duties concerning its own airports. In other words, when I get a decent job at GACA, projects like KAIA and others are await for professionals like me with a specialized management degree. So, yes I truly look forward to join GACA if possible and I believe they are waiting for me just like I’m waiting for them to say WELCOME. It is also reasonable to have alternatives in case it doesn’t go like I want it to go. So I am also considering contacting my last employer, Saudi Arabian Airlines. I still think that they are in a deep need for flight operations managers with a number of years in the technical services. I’m just gonna wait until I go back and see how it goes and hopefully everything is gonna look as cool as my years of education here at Eastern.

To conclude, the Saudi aviation expertise is still in need for a recently educated and updated generation to help in maximizing its efficiency ruling aviation activities. My country sent me abroad to earn a higher college degree as a full scholarship recipient and I want to go back and pay the favor back to my country. And from a wider point of view, I can say now that I have learned a lot and I can’t wait to apply what I have in mind and hand.