Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain, welcomed today the third group of six all-Bahraini female cabin crew to its family.

In a graduation ceremony held at the Elite Resort & Spa, attended by family members of the graduates and Gulf Air Senior Management, the girls received their honours and are ready to serve on-board their national carrier’s fleet.

This is the third group of Bahraini cabin crew to graduate from a joint-initiative run by the airline and Tamkeen to encourage more Bahrainis, particularly women, to join the national carrier in key customer-facing positions, such as flight crew by offering flexible scheduling benefits.

Congratulating the new graduates, Gulf Air Chief Executive Officer Samer Majali commented “I am pleased to see the graduation of yet another group of female Bahraini nationals joining our cabin crew division. I am proud to say we have now 20 Bahraini female cabin crew at Gulf Air and more will be joining in the coming months. Since we launched this programme last year, the feedback has been positive and has exceeded our expectations. I look forward to the graduation of many other groups in the near future.”

Mr. Majali added, “The induction of Bahraini cabin crew underpins one of the key components of our new strategy of providing passengers with warm and friendly traditional Arabian hospitality on which Gulf Air’s reputation is built. And who could be better at this, than our national workforce, who intrinsically understands our core values and ethos. By beginning their career with the national carrier, these Bahraini girls will be setting an example for other Bahraini women looking forward to an exciting and rewarding career.”

 Finally, cabin crew are not only the face of Gulf Air as they hold one of the most important customer-facing positions in the company, but they are also the ‘flying ambassadors’ of Bahrain promoting the country across our network. I wish them a bright future with Gulf Air.”

Tamkeen’s Vice President for Enterprise and Human Capital Development, Dr. Ahmed Abdul Ghani Al Shaikh, congratulated the graduating cabin crew as well as Gulf Air, calling the project to induct Bahraini women into Gulf Air’s roster a pioneering move to open new careers for Bahrainis.

“Tamkeen is proud of its association with Gulf Air, the national carrier, especially in this project because it represents an excellent synergy of Tamkeen’s vision of change, management and a new career creation for Bahrainis with Gulf Air’s ability to imaginatively fulfill the emotional expectations of young Bahraini women stepping out of traditional work zones into a new and exciting arena.”

He added, “Tamkeen has a rich track-record of supporting Bahraini women in their search for new and non-traditional careers in areas such as accounting and finance and aeronautical engineering – this new career as cabin crew with the national carrier is yet another feather in our collective caps – for Tamkeen, for Gulf Air and most of all for our young female cabin crew graduates!”

Recognising Bahrain’s traditional family values and the importance placed on home life, Gulf Air has developed new flexible scheduling benefits for Bahraini women joining as flight attendants. The new recruits can opt to fly on only turn-around flights, that do not require an overnight stay outside Bahrain. However, they have the option to fly the airline’s entire network if they wish to explore the world with Gulf Air.

Gulf Air is the first airline in the GCC to offer such a scheme. It reinforces the airline’s commitment to the local community. 

Gulf Air is still accepting applications for prospective Bahraini cabin crew. Those interested can log onto gulfaircareers.com to apply and get more information.