WATCH: SAA youth summit takes flight

In honouring Youth Month, South Africa Airways hosted its annual Youth Careers Summit at Airways Park from June 11 to 14.

The summit, now in its third year, brought together 2 000 Gauteng learners from Grades Nine to 11, students from Ekurhuleni East College and numerous other TVET colleges in the province.

Aimed at sparking conversation around the country’s skills requirements and opportunities in aviation, the event highlighted the wide array of career options available to youth within the aviation industry in general.

Zuko Mguzulwa, acting head of training at SAA Training, told Express: “We started with 200 students in 2016 and hosted 400 last year. The increase in the attendance is really exciting, because the idea is to expose these youngsters to the various careers in aviation and hopefully plant a seed in some of them to consider aviation as a career.”

Delegates and students were given insight into a number of professional aviation disciplines such as engineering, flight operations, logistics, catering, aircraft maintenance, aviation medicine and aviation law, providing them with first-hand knowledge of the skills required to run an international airline business.

This knowledge was shared at the different stalls put up at the venue and students were given the opportunity to walk around and engage.

Comedian Skhumbuzo “Skhumba” Hlophe addressed the learners, shared advice and had them in stitches.

“Go to school, learn, listen to and respect your teachers and work hard,” said Hlophe.

SAA spokesperson Tlali Tlali recognised that as a state-owned company with a mandate that includes supporting the national developmental agenda, SAA understands the importance of contributing towards transforming the country by creating both economic empowerment opportunities, as well as providing training and skills development for the country’s youth.

With 40 per cent of the SAA workforce younger than 40 years and 19 per cent aged between 32 and 37, the summit provided the ideal platform to demonstrate the exciting opportunities available to youth in this diverse and dynamic industry sector.

In the past, SAA has received positive feedback from learners and students alike, all of whom have been both encouraged and inspired to further investigate a future career path within the organisation and the industry in general.

Additional exhibitors at this year’s summit included DENEL Aerospace, the South African Police Service, Civil Aviation Authority, Mango Airlines and the Transport Education Training Authority.

“A total of 262 apprentices are already undergoing training this year with a further intake of 40 apprentices and interns beginning their training on July 15 in different fields, preparing them for future opportunities in the aviation industry. Going forward SAA will consider reinstating some of the additional training initiatives for the youth once the financial position of the company has been stabilised.”

The event’s theme was “Limitless Opportunities on the Ground and in the Sky”.