Ground-To-Air - Issue 13
It has been a very long year!
Do you remember that 2022 kicked off with relaxed Covid-19 related restrictions?
Everyone had every reason to hope for a better, brighter future – that of being able to move freely and at any given time. Fortunately, our hopes materialised into the freedoms that we missed so much.
Everything seems to be back to normal, especially travel. We see people going to meetings, conferences and vacations – and others are even travelling abroad to participate in global sports events. While there have been spirited talks about a 4-day work week in many industries and sectors, the status quo in the aviation industry remains. Aviators – pilots, flight engineers and Air Traffic Controllers (ATCs), to name but a few – are still required to go on shifts and be on position as if there was any interruption at some point in our life. Hence, they are often called the “lifeline” and “heartbeat” of our economy. To sum it up, aviators are “a strategic conduit to global economic sustainability”.
On page 9, we share an article titled Workplace evolution. It may give you a thought or two.
Kelly Mtetwa is our Marketing and Communications Graduate intern. She joined us a few months ago – two to be exact. Kelly hit the ground running and consequently we see her delivering a brilliant article on the Universal Children’s Day, which is celebrated annually on the 20th of November.
She touches on children’s safety, emphasising the fact that “children have fundamental rights to basic needs such as life, education, shelter, good nutrition and healthy, family, and protection from any form of violence all around the world. They deserve to have their voices heard”. This ties up well with another article penned by Mulomoni Nesengani, which elaborates on a very sad societal malice – that of violence directed at our children and womenfolk.
Other than her role within the Marketing and Communication department, Kelly will be part of the Ground-to-Air Editorial Team for the next two years. Please read her interesting story, “Getting to know Kelly Mtetwa”, on page 18.
John Jerrior Sieka Jr, from Robert’s Flight Information Region (Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone), shares his ATC career journey with us. He says “being an ATC was not something I dreamt of. When I was growing up as a kid, I always wanted to become a pilot, because I had an uncle who was a fighter pilot in the United States Air Force”. He is now a validated Area Procedural Controller. Sieka’s story is one of resilience and true dedication.
In the past few days, our distinct blue flag as well as that of our motherland flew high in several countries abroad. We had good representation at the APIRG8 meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, and in Amsterdam, Netherlands, where the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) TRAINAIR PLUS Steering Committee (TPSC) and ICAO Global Aviation Training Office (GAT) met at the JAA Training Organisation’s (JAA TO) head office.
This edition is packed with thought-provoking stories about Disability Rights Awareness Month, Fraud Awareness, International ATSEP Day, COP 27, Celebrating our own – Soweto Marathon 2022, and much more!
