Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain and Tamkeen, welcomed today the fifth group of seven all-Bahraini female cabin crew to the Gulf Air family. In a graduation ceremony held at Elite Resort & Spa, attended by family members of the graduates, Gulf Air Senior Management and Tamkeen Management, the girls received their honours, ready to serve on-board their national carrier's fleet. This is the fifth group of Bahraini cabin crew to graduate from a joint-initiative run by the airline and Tamkeen encouraging more Bahrainis, particularly females, 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 now have 36 Bahraini female cabin crew flying with us and they are all enjoying their career that has given them the opportunity to see a new world and meet new people. Since we launched this programme two years ago, the feedback has been positive and I look forward to the graduation of many other groups in the coming months." Mr. Majali added, “The induction of Bahraini cabin crew underpins one of the key components of our 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 also they are the ‘flying ambassadors' of Bahrain promoting the country across our network. I wish them a bright future with Gulf Air," Mr. Majali concluded. Offering his congratulations to the graduates and to Gulf Air for their accomplishments, Dr Ahmed Abdul Ghani Al-Shaikh, Vice President for Enterprise and Human Capital Development at Tamkeen said: “Tamkeen is proud to partner with leading organisations such as Gulf Air to implement its various human capital development projects. The graduation of these young and ambitious Bahraini women is demonstrative of Tamkeen's continuous efforts to develop Bahrain's human capital according to labour market needs, by enabling them to have value-added employment opportunities and further increase their contribution to the national economy." Recognising Bahrain's traditional family values and the importance placed on home life, Gulf Air has developed flexible scheduling benefits for Bahraini females joining as Flight attendants. The new recruits can opt to fly only turn-around flights that do not require 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 from prospective Bahrainis to join as cabin crew. Those interested can log onto gulfaircareers.com to apply and for more information.
