goodmorningpapua.com – To become a pilot, it takes several phases. A pilot candidate must take a series of education and official examinations held by aviation school and the similar institutions.
Two Papuan women Vanda Astri Korisano and Martha Ztiennov Itaar are the first two Papuan pilots who have succeeded in proving those. Both of them worked for the state-owned airline, PT. Garuda Indonesia. These two women are two close friends who have been in a relationship since childhood. Both are now listed as the first female pilots of Papua joining a business group of state-owned airline, Garuda Indonesia Group.
Since the beginning, these two students of West Papua, Vanda Korisano and Martha Itaar, have had dreams of becoming pilots. The both of their dream began to have a bright spot as they received a scholarship from the Special Autonomy (Otsus) fund of Papua provincial government from which they studied at Nelson Aviation College, New Zealand, since 2014.
Now both of them have succeeded to make their dream come true for becoming the first female pilot of Papua in the largest Indonesian airline, Garuda Indonesia, as of June 2019. Vanda accepted as a pilot at Garuda Indonesia, while Martha accepted at Citilink.
Vanda and Marta arriving in New Zealand in 2014, were recorded as having received the award as the best all year round flying performance for international students. They got certification in the form of; Private Pilot License, Commercial Pilot License and Multi Engine Instrument Rating.
After graduating from New Zealand in early January 2018, they decided to continue their education at the Ganesha Aviation School, Jakarta. Here, they get a certification of the Indonesian DGCA Pilot License. In June 2019, their hard work and struggle finally paid off, their dream of becoming a pilot for the largest Indonesian airline, Garuda Indonesia, got fulfilled. However, according to Vanda, this was not an easy achievement for him to achieve. Because, he had to undertake a strict recruitment selection process for Garuda pilots.
Meanwhile, according to Martha Itaar, she cannot wait to serve flights in her homeland. His idea from the past was none other than to be able to fly planes and serve flight routes in Papua with international airlines.
This achievement proves that whoever, including Papuan women, can become a pilot as long as they are good and competence. The achievements of the two Papuan pilots who have successfully passed the pilot recruitment process are something that should be appreciated considering that the recruitment of Garuda Indonesia Group pilots requires quite high standard requirements. This also indicates that there are many regional sons and daughters who have superior competitiveness. In the future, Vanda and Martha are also expected to be able to open the door for young generations in the regions, especially Papua, to have the same enthusiasm and optimism in pursuing of their dreams.