Early Life
Awais Ali Shah was born and raised in Gujrat, a city in Punjab province of Pakistan, he moved to Lahore to pursue his dream of becoming a pilot. He acquired his initial flight training from Hybrid Aviation Lahore in 2010.
He was fortunate enough to be hired by the airline soon after he completed his training. However, he was not operational right after. In the meantime, he continued his flight training as an instructor from Hybrid Aviation and continued working there as an instructor till 2014.
He also worked at Airborne Aviation Flying School for a year before he attained his operational status in 2017 and since then he has been flying ATR42/72 and Airbus A320 currently with National Flag Carrier. Usually, pilots who have attained success at a young age have dreamt of it since childhood.
but that was not the case with FO Awais. As a child, he used to watch the famous air crash investigation shows on television, and from there onwards the idea of being in the air spurred him.
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Challenging journey as a Pilot
FO Awais has had a challenging journey from the start. His parents’ support and strong belief in himself are what kept him going. Hard work became his daily routine during training, like the saying goes, “When going gets tough, the tough get going.”
Having trained with dedication and sheer hard work it becomes discouraging when jobs that pay well are not available and this is a common challenge that the First Officer has faced. However, like destiny has promised every ounce of hard work shall bear its fruit and that defines the success he has attained because as of now being a pilot in the national carrier is still a long-awaited dream for many trained pilots.
Another grave challenge faced by FO Awais was the lack of support or empathy by senior employees. This seems to be a common Pakistani work culture but this must change and for that, he tries to be empathetic towards the junior pilots he trains.
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Future goals as a Pilot
FO Awais has achieved his professional goals, however, now he wishes to spend more time with his family because his professional achievements came with great sacrifices, and not being able to spend quality time happens to be one of them.
FO Awais is a passionate flight instructor, he believes that it is one’s responsibility to share his knowledge further and he is looking forward to opportunities that involve training young pilots for a career in the national airline of Pakistan.
