A Soweto pilot who reached new heights at the controls of the world’s largest passenger plane, the Airbus A380, is now unemployed by the coronavirus pandemic.
Amanda Kandawire-Khoza, 30, explained how the global pandemic cut off her wings a year after joining Dubai-based Emirates.
In a Facebook post, he said, “On March 21, 2019, I got on a plane and moved to the UAE [United Arab Emirates] to start a new bankruptcy in my life. I didn’t know it would be the first black South African Woman to fly the A380.
Fast forward to today and unfortunately I say goodbye to the most incredible bankruptcy of my life. Covid-19 ended this prematurely for me, and my feelings were felt to the fullest through the news that I was fired.
Optimistic despite his arrival in the ranks of those whose careers have changed for the effects of coronavirus, Kandawire-Khoza said he did not take for granted everything he had achieved.
“Even though I lost my job, the only feeling beyond all of them is gratitude. I’m incredibly blessed. All my life, I have thrown caution into the wind about the adventure God has entrusted to me. Joining Emirates was a victory” for me, flying the A380 was the sweetest cherry of all.
“Because of the difficulties that black people continually endure, being here seemed bigger than me. I felt it was a victory for more than me and I hope my time here, after proving that nothing is and that no one can stop you regardless of your origin, circumstances, gender or race, encouraged you to pursue all the desires of your heart,” he says.
Kandawire-Khoza explained how her love of airplanes grew after flying for the first time at age five, right after the number, she went to flight school, her parents’ bank loans, part-time jobs and despite everything they funded scholarships. costly career path.
She praised the efforts of the United Arab Emirates to empower women, where she was one of many foreign female pilots who left the house to pursue her dreams of flying. One thing she regretted was not seeing other black women following in her footsteps while she was still with Emirates.
In statements to TimesLIVE, she explained how the pandemic has seriously affected the aviation industry, leaving even qualified people like her in financial distress.
“The aviation industry has suffered a massive blow as a result of Covid-19. Global closures meant no travel, which did not mean gains for airlines.
“I was lucky enough to be part of a company that had a shipping section, so the cargo operation could continue because the world still needed to stock up,” he said. “Unfortunately, most air operations depend on traveling passengers, so the longer the borders remain closed, the worse the scenario gets. As a result, pay cuts had to occur and others eventually lost their jobs, adding myself.
“The industry will recover. It may be slow, but it will recover,” he says.
Kandawire-Khoza is making plans for his life in the United Arab Emirates and plans to return to South Africa after visiting his home for the last time in February, a month before the country’s borders close.
Upon arrival, you plan to renew your SA airline pilot license, which will grant you an UAE license.
Then the search for paintings will begin.
TimesLIVE
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