RIYADH — Ibrahim Al-Rusaa, spokesman of the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), said that a total of 23 Saudi women were employed as flight attendants by a number of local airline companies until the end of December 2020. "This is part of GACA's target of creating jobs for a larger number of Saudis and that is in integration with the private sector to create more jobs in the future," he said. Al-Rusaa said the launch of the new initiative to localize jobs in the air transport sector will create 10,000 jobs for Saudis. A few weeks ago, GACA had unveiled plans to Saudize 28 professions in the air transport sector over the coming three years. "The initiative, which will further strengthen the aviation sector with local workforce, is one of the goals of the Kingdom's Vision 2030," the spokesman said while describing the initiative as the fruit of cooperation with the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development to localize 28 professions including that of cabin crew. The professions include pilot, flight attendant, air traffic controller, supervisor, flight yard coordinator, ground handling services, handling of cargo, luggage and passengers, flight catering and other professions related to the air transport sector. GACA has directed all airlines, maintenance and operation contractors and service providers working at all airports to start implementing the initiative. Earlier, in December 2020 Saudi Arabian Airlines announced the hiring of 50 Saudi women as flight attendants. It stated that that 50 airhostess positions were earmarked for female citizens in the first phase to work at Jeddah and Riyadh stations. They will take up job after undergoing training for two months. The national carrier also celebrated the occasion of achieving 100 percent Saudization in the position of co-pilot in the airline.
