Following a wave of key reforms under Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, an ambitious national transformation plan that is being spearheaded by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, Saudi women have been figuratively and literally aiming for the sky. This summer has seen the first ever wave of women enrolling in flight schools in Saudi Arabia, it has witnessed thousands of women applying for newly announced opportunities to work as co-pilots and cabin crew members, and the country’s General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) has launched a training program that will allow Saudi women to train as air controllers.
Now, the Kingdom’s women are set to take over the skies once again, this time by breaking into aviation security. According to local newspaper Al-Watan, 161 Saudi women are being trained by the General Authority for Civil Aviation to work in aviation security. These newly-trained security officers will be responsible for the safety and security of passengers and staff members working at the airport. Their specific tasks will include “ensuring all safety and security precautions are implemented, communicating between airports through an efficient network, ensuring that all safety and security regulations are unified across the airports in the Kingdom and facilitating all commercial aviation operations.”
As reported by Saudi Gazette, the graduates of the training program are capable of developing and enhancing security procedures followed at Saudi airports, preparing a national aviation security program and responding quickly in the event of any security threats. They will also be trained to ensure all airport staff and airline operators adhere to national and international regulations, inspect the operational quality of airports, ensure that all equipment is handled correctly, execute secretarial tasks, review security committee reports, issue licenses to employees of the aviation sector, and evaluate security threats and their severity.
