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As a girl growing up in a remote village close to the Botswana border, Naomi Phetoe used to look at the planes flying high above her and marvel at them.
But the 27-year-old couldn’t believe her good fortune when the opportunity arose, just after she had finished matric in 2007, to enrol at a flying academy and train to become a pilot.
The flying enthusiast’s father had taken a R60 000 loan to enrol her at the Afrika Union Aviation Academy in Mahikeng in 2008.
But her dream came crashing down when, having flown only 20 hours of the required 45 hours to qualify for an entry-level private pilot’s flying licence, she ran out of funds.
Community efforts to raise money for her, including media publicity of her plight, generated some interest from a few Gauteng flying academies, but nothing came of it.
So Phetoe returned home to Ramatlabama village outside Mahikeng, where she again passed the time watching the planes. But this time, having been in the cockpit of one, she was not ready to give up on her dream.
Nor was she ready to accept suggestions that she should apply to become a flight attendant.
Phetoe was determined to fly a plane. For the next five years, she knocked on many doors and applied for every pilot’s opportunity on offer.
Her prayers were finally answered when the Civil Aviation Authority stepped in and offered to fund her training.
Phetoe registered with Superior Pilot Services at Grand Central Airport in Midrand in 2013. Now, seven years later, Phetoe’s turbulence is finally over.
She has already obtained a private pilot’s licence and, at the end of this month, will walk away with a commercial pilot’s licence.
Armed with a licence that allows her to fly a twin-engine aircraft with passengers, she is now on the hunt for a job.
Wearing her uniform – a bright, white pilot’s shirt with epaulettes and navy-blue pants – the soft-spoken Phetoe draws a deep breath as she recounts her journey.
“The storm is finally over. When I look at all the financial limitations and other hindrances that pulled me down, my journey was not easy at all,” she said.
“There were endless hurdles, but I refused to throw in the towel when many believed I could not make it.”
Aside from her financial struggles, Phetoe said it was “generally not easy for women in the aviation industry and even worse for a black female trainee. I had to work three times harder, but I will soon be reaping the fruits of all my hard work.
“My aim is to secure a job with an airline where I can train further and be able to fly bigger aircraft.
“To all young girls aspiring to become pilots out there, do not let anything – and I mean anything – stand in your way if this is really what you want.
“It is all possible although it is not too easy,” said Phetoe.
