Aviation for Women is the flagship member publication of Women in Aviation International. Articles feature women who have made aviation history, professional development ideas, and current-topic articles.
Issue link: https://afwdigital.epubxp.com/i/619020
34 Aviation forWomen J A N U A R Y / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6 But Fatima, then a young Pakistan Air Force offcer with a degree in electrical engineering and an arranged marriage waiting, found her horizons were expanding. "Being trained as an offcer and soldier, that's when I realized I can do a lot more things than I thought I could," she says. Such thoughts were contrary to everything girls in her homeland were taught to believe about themselves and their place. "A wom- an who has a job outside the home is not the most respected member of society," she says. Sitting in a coffee shop in bustling midtown Manhattan, Fatima's adopted hometown, and hearing her recount the journey that has taken her far from that world provides a striking prism for viewing the challenges and adversity we all face in pursuing our dreams and goals. Says her friend Nancy Hultgren, a frst offcer with Delta Air Lines, via tele- phone, "Every time we hang out she'll mention something about how she was raised, and being a girl in Pakistan, that blows my mind. It's like a joke between us. I say, 'You just blew my mind again!'" Mind-blowing events continue, with recent highlights in- cluding a speech Fatima delivered in Oslo last December dur- ing Nobel Peace Prize ceremonies for Malala Yousafzai, the girl who championed the right of all Pakistani children to an education, and in March 2015 at the International Women in Aviation Conference, where she was selected for the Delta Air Lines Boeing 757/767 Type Rating Certifcate Scholarship (subsequently upgraded to a 777 type rating). Her story is also a reminder that aviation is as much a means of transfor- mation as transportation. Planning the Traditional Route Born in 1981, the daughter of a senior civil servant and engi- neer, as is customary for girls, Fatima stayed indoors when she wasn't at school. "Girls don't go out on the street, or ride a bike, or go to the store by themselves," Fatima explains. Yet her parents insisted she get the best education possible and demanded academic excellence. Her father's poor health impeded the search for a husband, so after high school, Fatima continued her education. With no career at stake, her choice of feld and school—electrical en- gineering at the University of Engineering and Technology in Lahore—was almost an afterthought. "I enjoyed math, and I had to pick some major," she says. "I thought engineering would be challenging as many girls don't opt for it." Indeed, only 50 of the 6,000 students were women. Fati- ma wore a headscarf ("chaadar"), full-length sleeves, and es- chewed bright colors (most women wore burqas), but none- "Being trained as an offcer and soldier, that's when I realized I can do a lot more things than I thought I could." In a Mirage 3 PA aircraft from No. 8 tactical attack squadron of the PAF. This was her second fghter aircraft squadron as an engineering offcer. Above: Inspecting a Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-220 engine pulled out of an F-16. Below: Doing some ground checks on an F-16.