Nationwide — Precious Sibalo, a woman from Zimbabwe, is now a commercial airline pilot after years of working as a waitress and flight attendant.
Ever since Precious saw pilots during a school trip at an airport, she has already dreamed of becoming a pilot. She realized she didn’t see any female pilots at that time and it inspired her even more to pursue a male-dominated career.
However, Precious had to put her dream on hold when she became a young mother at the age of 17. She also lost her mother around that time. Although she was grieving and she really didn’t want to be away from her daughter, she had to provide for her own family.
Precious moved to South Africa to work as a waitress and a part-time model before moving to Dubai where she also worked as a waitress. After just 3 months in Dubai, she took an opportunity to work at Qatar Airways as a cabin crew member.
That’s when her dream of becoming a pilot started to resurface. After a few years of working as a cabin crew member, she was about to get promoted to senior cabin member. Instead, she decided to start her studies to become a pilot in 2017.
Now, she now holds an Airline Transport Pilot License, the world’s highest level of Aircraft Pilot License from 43 Air School in South Africa. She is currently building hours in South Africa and is hoping to work for Qatar Airways again, but this time as a pilot for their biggest planes.