The Gulf 's three major airlines have spent the week topping up their fleets with record-breaking plane orders . In doing so , they begged the question : who 's going to fly all those new planes ? `` We estimate that we 'll need around 6,000 pilots by 2020 , depending on new delivery timings and old aircraft retirement , '' says Nabil Al Boom , a captain and deputy national cadet pilot manager for Emirates Airlines . In fitting with its recent order and general expansion plan , the airline plans to build a suitably large , dedicated flight training academy in the empty desert near the new Al Maktoum airport . Al Boom says he expects it to take 400 cadets each year on a three-and-a-half-year program that is aimed at turning local Emiratis into some of the best pilots in the world . `` It is very rewarding to see someone who you 've almost taken off the street in their dish-dash years later with their stripes on their shoulders , '' he says . Emirates is n't the only airline on the lookout . The Professional Aviation Board of Certification estimates that 450,000 new pilots will need to be trained by 2020 , with 184,000 in the Asia Pacific region alone . Read more : The Middle East 's luxury jet market . With so many positions up for grabs , some believe the time is ripe for women to enter the cockpit . Though the region can sometimes take a traditionalist stance on women in the workplace , some female pilots have already started paving the way . `` When I told my parents I wanted to be a pilot , oh my , that was a complete 'no-no ' , '' says 26-year-old Alia Twal , a first officer for Royal Jordanian Airlines . It took a year for Twal to convince her father . Since then , she has n't looked back . At the age of 21 , she became a flight instructor , and now holds the position of governor of the Arabian chapter of The Ninety-Nines , the International Organization of Women Pilots , which , alas , only has 36 members . Not surprisingly , women continue to be underrepresented in the industry , not just in the Middle East , but globally . Women only account for 5 % of members of the Air Line Pilots Association -- the trade organization that represents pilots at U.S. and Canadian carriers . According to Twal , there are only 20 female pilots in all of Jordan ( paltry , given the country 's population boasts 6.3 million ) . While Twal says attitudes in Jordan are changing for the better , she admits her gender can prove a barrier , especially when she 's charged with training less experienced pilots who are both older , and male . Read more : Meet the world 's fastest man . `` They would not be happy , but then you have to find a way to give your message , make a joke for example , so they look at you as a human and not as a woman , '' she says . Kristina Tervo is also helping women in the region to get their wings . As an instructor for Air Arabia , she estimates there is on average one female for every 20 cadets . She 's hoping that will change one day . As vice president of the Middle East chapter of Women in Aviation , she 's seen a great deal of potential during school visits and at talks . `` We 're keen to get more women into the industry , and what we 're seeing is very encouraging , '' she says . `` Ultimately it should n't matter who is flying the plane . '' Twal agrees : `` The plane does not know who is flying her . We are all equal . [ The Ninety-Nines ] are trying to give women a chance to create a change and have a voice ; I believe every woman is a hero , whatever she does . ''
450,000 new pilots will need to be trained by 2020 . With so many spots up for grabs , some think the time is ripe for women to enter the cockpit . The U.S. Air Force has been looking at ways to increase its female workforce since it started recruiting in earnest a decade ago with an eye toward increasing diversity and gender equality.