“I wanted to do something different” – Meet Ilyana, A Female Pilot Who Stepped Out Of Her Comfort Zone

International Women’s Day falls on March and we have now moved on to the month of April. However, do we need to abide by the constraints of time just to respect women when it should be done daily?

We figured that the answer to that is no, so we wanted to introduce you guys to a person who leapt to join a male-majority occupation.

Meet Ilyana Nazli Shah, 37, who is a captain and flight instructor at AirAsia.

Ilyana is a pilot with Airasia and is currently based in Johor as the hub manager where she is also a Flight Instructor.

Being a pilot alone is a very big achievement and believe it or not, Ilyana did not make that decision until she was 16. “When I was young, I lived with my grandparents so I was constantly surrounded by loving family members,” she said.

“I wanted to be a teacher, stewardess, engineer and musician as those were all occupations of my family members,” she continued.

Fast forward to when she was 16, Ilyana was doing a half science- half arts stream. She was set on becoming an engineer but by the end of the year, she wasn’t that sure anymore as the thought of becoming a pilot was playing in her mind.

“I wanted to do something different. I think I was going through my rebellious teen stage.”

She told her parents about it but her father was not really sold on the idea as he himself is a pilot and has seen how scarce women are in the industry, but he approached the Director of Flight Operations who later on talked to Tony Fernandes about female pilots.

Captain ilyana with her father, captain nazli in an interview with malaysia dateline back in 2013.

Soon after, the next batch of AirAsia’s cadets was open to women and the rest is history.

Now, the journey itself was not an easy one as Ilyana’s father is a pilot and she felt that she disappointed him.

“My dad was the DFO (Director of Flight Operations) at AirAsia when I reported to the Malaysian Flying Academy (MFA), so I put a lot of pressure on myself to do well.”

But after going through the whole arduous journey of becoming a pilot and living life, she lost the insecurity and grew into herself, a proud female pilot.

To that, she is very appreciative of AirAsia who gave the opportunity to her and her female batch mate to grow, strive and achieve new things. Their all-male mentor entourage was also very encouraging and supportive during their journey.

Up until now, Ilyana has done 5 flights with her father: 2 as his copilot on the A320, 1 as his copilot and another as his safety copilot on the A330.

She could still vividly remember the first flight they had together and the ball of nerves that she was.

“I felt him watching and judging my every move! He even commented that my public announcement was too fast, “laju macam keretapi” was how he put it.”

For the rest of the flights, their time spent working together is definitely pleasant as they would always chat about cats or think about what Ilyana’s mother will be cooking when they get back.

Ilyana is now established in her career and to the young girls who dream of being a pilot, she says:

“Be brave! Dare to be different and step outside of your comfort zone. The first step is always the hardest. You’ll never know what you are capable of unless you try.”

However, she also advises youngins to do their research before applying for flying school: “if you’re looking to join a local airline you have to join a local flying school or apply for cadet programs by local airlines such as Airasia.”

She continued, “taking your licence overseas doesn’t mean you can immediately apply for a job here in Malaysia. You might have to convert your licence and it’ll cost you more money.”

Well, we certainly hope that this article will inspire the younger generation to chase what they believe in while doing proper research.

Is there someone out there whose life story should be known by everyone? Let us know in the comments.

Also read: 21yo M’sian Learnt How To Sew From YouTube & Google, Opens Up Own Boutique After 3 Years