Capt. Immaculate Apolot
Manager Flight Operations, East African Civil Aviation Safety and Security Oversight Agency a regional Safety Oversight Organization
Apolot trained at the East African Civil Aviation School in Soroti, from where she graduated as a professional pilot in 1999.
She was the second female pilot and the first to venture into general aviation.
After graduation, Apolot worked with
several organizations, including United Airlines, Eagle Air, FEEDER Airlines in Juba, South Sudan and Uganda Air Cargo.
She is the only female pilot this year that was on the lineup of the panel of speakers for the inaugural #GirlsInAviationDay 2024 alongside Ann Kipsang a safety officer, Derek Nseko a pilot, Caroline Abanaitwe a fireman and Air Traffic Controller Eva Luyiga.
The GIRLS IN AVIATION DAY annual event is organized by Air Serv International in partnership with Uganda Airlines, African Leaders in Aviation and Civil Aviation Authority of Uganda as well as Women in Aviation.
This year's inaugural (first) edition had an interesting line up of other female aviators such as Nyasha Manyika (Co-Founder ALA), Sheila Ajok (A Public Relations Officer) as well as Robina Nalumu an Aviation Marketer.
Unveiling Capt. Immaculate Apolot - Rystar Africa's LADY OF THE WEEK
Being the first Ugandan female pilot in general aviation, Apolot, in an interview with a German publication says she has had her share of challenges. Even after graduating as a professional pilot unlike her male counterparts, Apolot could not be immediately recruited.
This was not because she was incompetent but because the companies she approached were skeptical about employing her since she is a woman.
“People assumed I could not handle certain assignments because I am a
woman,” she recalls. For example, on many occasions, when she appeared
before an interview panel, the first question the panelists asked her was,
“What if you got pregnant?”
This meant that Apolot would not have to conceive or else risked losing her job. Such conditions automatically made her postpone plans of becoming a mother.
Apolot got a breakthrough when she met👮 Captain Elly Aluvale, a Kenyan pilot and proprietor of United Airlines. Aluvale got interested in employing Apolot as a female pilot.
Pilot Apolot's first assignment was to fly the late Gen. Kazini of the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
She flew a five-seater chartered plane and that was her defining moment which marked the beginning of her flying experience.
Nevertheless, the challenges never ceased. She recalls an incident when she was preparing to fly passengers to Adjumani. “Being a small young girl fresh from Soroti Flying School, one passenger stubbornly said he could not be flown by a young girl. Fortunately, my captain intervened and told him off. He was advised to either stay or allow to be flown by a female,"Apolot narrated.
In 2015, Apolot joined the Civil Aviation Authority as a Flight Inspector. In November 2017, she was appointed Manager Flight Operation at the Civil Aviation Safety
and Security Oversight Agency.
In 2018, during the International Women’s Day celebrations, Apolot Immaculate was recognized with a medal of excellence.
🎤RYSTAR QUOTES: IN HER OWN WORDS:
" People assumed I could not handle certain assignments because I am a woman," Capt. Apolot Immaculate recalls. "Being a small young girl fresh from Soroti Flying School, one passenger stubbornly said he could not be flown by a young girl. Fortunately my captain intervened and told him off . He was advised to either stay or allow to be flown by a female.".
🎤RYSTAR QUOTES: IN HER OWN WORDS:
PHOTO CREDIT: All 📸photos used in this blog post are courtesy photos
Profile compiled by Rhyman Alphred Agaba
Editor of this publication.
Contact us via email : 💻agabarhy@gmail.com
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