SUSAN MASHIBE:Sky is not the limit anymore for a young tanzanian woman!

Looks are definitely deceiving. One can’t be more convinced, especially when talking about the likes of Susan Mashibe. At a glance, the petite woman does not give you the impression of who she really is.

When I first met her at the recently held career fair at the Diamond Jubilee Hall in Dar es Salaam, I did not give Susan much attention. I thought she was one of the many university students attending the show to look for career opportunities.

She still appeared down-to-earth even though she was in heels and sporting a fabulous grey balloon dress, and matching handbag. I only got to know she was indeed the famous Susan Mashibe – the only commercial pilot-cum-aircraft maintenance engineer in Tanzania.She exuded self-confidence and style at the same time – and she talks with so much poise. The natural question I had to ask her at the career fair was: What is it like being the only person in the country who doubles as a pilot and aircraft engineer?
Do not like praise

“I find it normal,” she says. “I do not like all the praise -- I just want to inspire young people through my story so they too can go after their dreams and never let anything deter them.”

And that was why she was at the career fair – to talk about her inspiring life story. When she was introduced by the MC as the guest speaker, I saw a different Susan from the ‘student-like’ person I had earlier seen with the crowd at the hall reception.

She does not give the impression that she is the director of the Tanzanite Jet Centre, and owner of Fixed Base Operation, a successful one-stop shop for private jet needs. Founded in 2003, the high-flying company is the first of its kind in Tanzania, specialising in providing logistic support to corporate, diplomatic and private jets in the region.

A trendsetter in aviation business in East Africa, Susan’s love for flying did not start at college. She was only four when she discovered that her niche in life was in the skies.

Left behind
“I used to watch my parents and siblings board a plane and take off, leaving me behind,” she says. “We lived in Kigoma then, and they were going back to Dar es Salaam, and I was left with grandmother.”   “Just watching the plane take off made me think, if only I knew how to fly I would never be left behind again,” says the third of six children in her family. By this time, all she was curious to know was what it took for one to become a pilot, and to know how the airplane worked.
“I still remember the feeling that came over me when I saw the British Boeing 737 for the first time, I was speechless I had never seen something so beautiful and vast, but what fascinated me most was the take-off process,” she says.

This feeling soon developed into a passion and fascination that possessed young Susan. The passion was later to be rekindled after her uncle took her on a tour of the airport when she visited Dar es Salaam at the age of 10.

Every member of her family knew her ambition. So it was not difficult to convince her father to bless her career choice after she completed O-level.

“I had been called to join teaching, but my father, who was a civil servant, asked me what I wanted to do. I told him I wanted to be a pilot, then he told me to pursue my dreams.” And pursue her dream she did.

Learn English

In 1993 she started a course on aircraft engineering at the South Western Michigan College in the US where her sister stayed. Her father had advised her to study the course in the US. She also had to learn English at the same time.

“I had been told that I could not do piloting if I did not speak English because one would have to communicate with the control tower,” she says.

However, in 1995 things got a bit difficult after her family back home said they could not support her education anymore due to financial constraints. “For a moment I thought I was watching as my dream died an inevitable death -- I lost hope, and appetite, and as a result got sick.”

“I was admitted to hospital, and they had to send me back home to regain my strength, which I did. But I made a lifelong resolve while at home that from then on, I would never want to rely on anyone but myself, I was going back to finish my school and would fly on my own.”

That is exactly what she did. Somehow she retraced her steps back to school and graduated in 1996. Her first employer was Duncan Aviation, fixed base operation company in Michigan, US. Susan started by performing scheduled heavy inspections on various business jets.“I started my flying classes at the Western Michigan University, and now concentrating on flight,” she says. “It was very expensive, and I had to work long hours at night for me to attend class.” Fortunately, she was taking the classes at her company, so she paid half the amount, a benefit the firm availed to its employees.

Terrorist attacks

In 2002, Susan became an FAA certified commercial pilot after completing her BA in Aviation Management. However, life had already become tough for anyone in the airline business because of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the US in 2001.
“After the September 11 attacks, airlines experienced a downturn, and people were laid off. It was tough because some companies actually closed, so I decided home is where I should be.”

Susan had already made some sacrifices and saved enough to come home to start her own business. She first thought of getting a job but the companies home told her she was overqualified. She was left with no option but use all her savings to acquire a 13sq room at the airport, where she opened her company on July 1, 2007.“Everyone dismissed my decision, saying I would close up shop after three months, but I am still here,” she says, explaining how resilience paid off in her business. Her first client came 20 days after she opened her business, and it was Jacob Zuma, who had paid Tanzania a visit.

Her contacts in South Africa had recommended her for the job of handling the Mr Zuma’s plane. It was a big start for her since she got a tender to handle all the planes that arrive under the South African embassy.

While she considers this to be a major achievement, Susan says her happiest moment was when she paid half a billion in taxes to the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA). It was huge contribution that shocked many, she says. The sky does not seem to be her limit for the pilot who now handles planes from various countries. She is not just an ordinary pilot. The list of her clients includes heads of state, monarchs, Fortune 500 executives, and celebrities.She also runs another company -- the Kilimanjaro Aviation Logistic Center -- that processes landing and overflight clearances for private jets throughout the African continent.

Like most women in male dominated fields, Susan has had her share of stereotyping. She notes that some people tend to dismiss her at a glance. She recalls the day she was barred from entering a diplomatic plane because the security thought she had no business going in there. They were later shocked to learn that she was in fact the one handling the plane.

“I am very feminine, I wear my heels, make-up and so forth, so when a pilot checks in and sees that I will be handling their plane, they panic thinking that I am not capable, some even come to monitor me as I work, but their faces changes soon enough as they realise what I can do,” she says. Ends