The skies are under control

By Zenifer Khaleel

Air Traffic Control is known to be an extremely stressful job and the UAE airspace is one of the busiest and most complex airspaces in the world in order to accommodate the demand of people wanting to visit the country.

Having said that, in 2016, at a time when Air Traffic Control was an unknown and an unheard-of career choice for women, Jouhayna Al Mheiri became the youngest woman and second Emirati women to successfully complete the training program in the Shiekh Zayed Air Navigation Center. Today, apart from being a competent ATC Operator (ATCO), she is also an On-the-Job Training Instructor who is passionate about training the next generation of ATCOs. 

Learning the ropes

After finishing high school Jouhayna took a gap year to figure out her next course of action.  She applied for a scholarship program for ATC thinking that this was something that fitted well with her personality. After being selected, she had to face an interview and a psychometric exam, which she completed successfully. 

Having been recruited in 2014, she endured a tough training program and was the only female in her batch of Emiratis. They went on to become the biggest batch to succeed in the history of the facility until that point. “I believe it is because we worked together as a team to empower and push one another through the tough training program that lasted 2.5 years,” she says. The trainings were conducted in the Sheikh Zayed Air Navigation Center (SZC) in Abu Dhabi and the Global ATS situated in the United Kingdom. 

After attaining her ATC license, she studied part time and got her BSc Air Transport Management with Honors from Coventry University and Emirates Aviation University. 

All in a day’s work

There are three types of traffic control. The first is the Control Tower where ATCOs work with all the aircraft that are literally touching the ground and about to land or take off. Vertically on top of that is the Approach Control Unit where aircrafts are lined up by ATCOs to ensure that they are able to go down to the tower and land and park. 

Jouhayna works in an Area Control Centre at the SZC. Her job entails that she keeps the skies of the UAE safe with orderly and expeditious flow of air traffic which includes any  aircraft overflying, landing and departing the UAE. “Any aircraft that’s going to start its initial descent into landing in the UAE, regardless of the airport, has to work with me for their initial departure and ascend into a higher altitude,” she says. 

Having been recruited when she was only 19, she had to hone herself tremendously to fit into the job profile. “The responsibility of being an ATCO is massive and I took it on at the youngest age you could get recruited. You impact thousands of lives in every shift. To put it in perspective, when a surgeon works, they impact one life at a time. Now imagine how many people are on board on an aircraft. It ranges from 1 to 850+ and thats just one aircraft! ATCOs work multiple aircraft at a time providing them with instructions to keep them safe and separated from other aircraft and obstructions as well as ensuring they are on the correct flight path. Next time you see an article about how many passengers are flying into Dubai Airport and breaking records remember that ATCOs in SZC are working all the air traffic for every single airport and every single aircraft that overflies the UAE,” she says. 

Flying high

Being an ATCO has given her the financial independence to take care of her mother and younger sisters, giving them a life without worry and endless opportunities. “I took up this job as it was a financial necessity for me at that point,” claims Jouhayna.  “But now I love it can’t see myself doing anything else. There is always something new every day and you never get bored. You don’t ever take the job home with you (unless you’re in training and need to study). The moment the headset comes off the job is done. The feeling of job satisfaction is extremely high for me. I love the team I am in. It is an honour to work alongside a team of incredible ATCOs and supervisors keeping the skies of the UAE safe,” she adds

Also the time- off enables her to take a day off for every two days of work and that doesn’t include annual leave. “I’ve been able to travel the world and experience so many things because of this job. It has empowered me in so many ways,” she says. 

With the experience she has garnered, Jouhayna is now at a point in her career where she is ten steps ahead of the traffic situations that may arise and with multiple back up plans. Variables that are out of her control are her main challenges. “For instance, there are example pilots who don’t listen out on the frequency and so my instructions are not implemented immediately. Imagine playing a video game and the control buttons are lagging!” she says.

Generation Next of ATCOs

According to Jouhayna, the skills required for air traffic control are multi-tasking, the ability to concentrate for long periods of time and quick decision making skills. “You will be working under high pressure and for long periods so you will have to be able to handle high stress and have organisational skills,” she says

Other skills include the ability to visualise in 2D and 3D, ability to communicate clearly and mental math skills. “When people ask me how to prepare for the recruitment process my advice is to know what ATC is and to brush up on their mental math, knowledge and arithmetic for speed, distance and time and English if it isn’t their first language,” she adds.

 It is also extremely important to show up well rested for the exams and interview because the candidate will be tested on things they already know about just to gauge if they will be able handle the pressure of the job and think clearly under duress. “When I did my recruitment process I remember thinking I was going to run out of time and filled out what made sense and moved on to the next question as quickly as I could,” she recollects.

In order to accommodate different types of air traffic rules which are constantly changing, an aspirant in this field should also be abreast of all the rules and regulations in this field.

She has created her social media profiles to be educational about ATC for people who want to join or for anybody who’s interested in air navigation to test their knowledge.

Future Ready

Jouhayna envisages the future of the aviation industry to be more automated. 

But she feels is going to take a lot of time for full automation to be implemented as in ATC due to the many variables impacting safety. “I am excited for the technology AI will bring to ATC to assist ATCOs in operations to enable us to handle higher traffic levels,” she says. “I am also very proud that as an on-the-job instructor, there is a high pass rate for my trainees.”