Maliha Sami also spelt Maleeha Sami is a former

commercial pilot A commercial pilot licence (CPL) is a type of pilot licence that permits the holder to act as a pilot of an aircraft and be paid for their work. Different licenses are issued for the major aircraft categories: airplanes, airships, balloons, glid ...

from

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

. In 1990, she became the first woman from the country to fly a commercial airliner as first officer (1990).

Background

Sami is the only daughter amongst six siblings hailing from a conservative Muslim family from

Quetta Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه‎) is the tenth most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in south-west of the country close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is the capital of ...

, Baluchistan, Pakistan.

Career

Sami worked for the

Civil Aviation Authority of Pakistan Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) ( ur, ) is a state-owned autonomous body under the administrative control of the Secretary to the Government of Pakistan for Aviation, which oversees and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in Paki ...

(CAA) for more than six years, where she flew small, twin-engine aircraft as a navigational co-pilot. After 1989, Maliha was called by the

Pakistan International Airlines Pakistan International Airlines ( ur, ; abbreviated PIA, ur, ) is an international airline that serves as the national flag carrier of Pakistan under the administrative control of the Secretary to the Government of Pakistan for Aviation. It ...

to attend formal pilot training. Amongst her batch mates was Ayesha Rabia Naveed, who would go onto become the first woman to captain a commercial airliner. Sami flew her first flight as first officer in 1990. In February 1994, Maliha became the first Pakistani woman pilot to operate a scheduled wide-body Airbus A-300 flight, on the Karachi-Quetta-Islamabad run. Sami was also the first Pakistani woman pilot to operate a scheduled Fokker flight on the Karachi-Panjgur-Turbat-Gwadar sector in 1990. Maliha became first woman pilot in the company to fly an Airbus A310 in 1996. Sami also attended several refresher and training courses in the United States. She has also attended an intensive three-week training program in Kuala Lmpur, Malaysia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sami, Maliha Pakistani women aviators Pakistani aviators Living people People from Quetta Year of birth missing (living people)