From Big Ambitions to Big Aircraft: Emirati Engineer Lives Her Passion

Ever since Sara Saeed bin Suwaidan Alsuwaidi was a little girl growing up in Dubai, she wanted to become an engineer. After discovering aviation in high school, she was determined to specialize in aviation engineering. 

Today, she works on some of the largest aircraft in the skies – the Boeing 777, powered exclusively by the GE90 engine and the Airbus A380, many of which are powered by the GP7000 * engine.

“Every time I see an aircraft flying in the sky, it makes me happy,” said Alsuwaidi, an authorized and licensed Aircraft Engineer at Emirates Airlines. “What I enjoy most about my job is working on complex aircraft systems during maintenance activities, ensuring that the aircraft is safe to fly post-maintenance, with the joy of carrying passengers across the world.”

As part of her role, Alsuwaidi carries out minor and major scheduled, unscheduled and corrective maintenance on aircraft, and performs other major tasks, such as landing gear work and engine replacements.

Passionate about her industry and her work, she has never wavered in her academic or career choices, even though engineering has been a field traditionally dominated by men.

“Throughout my career, I have proven myself and demonstrated my capabilities as a female Emirati engineer,” said Alsuwaidi, who earned a degree in Aircraft Maintenance Engineering and completed an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer License (AMEL) programme with Emirates. 

Next month, she will celebrate 10 years with the airline, which flies the world’s largest fleets of GE90-powered Boeing 777s and GP7200-powered A380s.

As an Emirati woman, she feels “a responsibility to set an example and inspire more women to join the field and feel confident working in this beautiful aviation space, without being limited by gender.”

Her work on aircraft engines, which she describes as “such sophisticated pieces of technology,” is particularly interesting and rewarding, she says, because these engines “allow the aircraft to safely carry millions of passengers across the globe, providing the thrust needed for a sustained flight.”

Partnership for safety, reliability, innovation

She appreciates working with GE Aerospace to keep those engines in top shape because of the company’s software, data analytics and other advanced technologies that “allow for real-time monitoring of engines, enabling early intervention whenever required.”

The 40-year partnership between Emirates and GE Aerospace ensures that teams from the two companies “work well to come up with innovative and cost-effective methods that allow for the safe and reliable release of engines to support the fleet.”

In Emirates’ daily engineering workflows, the benefits of this collaboration are clear, she says: “It ensures reliable technical support and timely access to service bulletins, which make troubleshooting and rectification more efficient.”

As a result, Emirates is able to keep the engines safe, reliable and on-wing to power its widebody fleet.

In addition to GE Aerospace technologies, Alsuwaidi also appreciates the company’s “benchmark” capabilities in optimization and process improvement through FLIGHT DECK, its proprietary lean operating model that features continuous improvement as a guiding principle.

“This gives us the opportunity to learn, develop, and improve by applying some of their processes,” she says.

‘Follow your dreams’

To the young girls contemplating a career in engineering and aviation, Alsuwaidi says there are many examples of women who have achieved and accomplished much, thereby making history. 

“The next generation of women can do it as well – with motivation, effort and hard work.”

Her advice: “Follow your dreams no matter what challenges and obstacles you may face. Do what you love with passion, and you will succeed.”

*GP7200 is made by the Engine Alliance, a joint venture between GE Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney.