Awais Haider Butt, the youngest ever Pakistani commercial pilot, flew an aircraft as a licensed commercial pilot when he was just 18. He was born in Pakistan and raised in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) whereas he learned the art of aviation from a Greek academy.
Recently, while in Pakistan, Awais spoke to us on a wide range of his career and about his career.
He gets excited whenever he is asked how his aviation training regime was
“I wasn’t afraid of going into the horizon; the only issue was to control my excitement,” recalls Awais Butt the day when he started an ambitious journey to be a professional pilot, right after one week of his A level exams. The tough, disciplined journey ultimately led him to be the youngest professional commercial pilot. He became a licensed and on-job commercial pilot at the age of 18.
He vividly remembers the day of his first flight
“The first flight I did was in Greece; I remember it was during the early hours of the day, and I couldn’t sleep all night due to the excitement. A cold sunny morning with beautiful conditions to fly awaited me. The view after we took off was too good to be true. The experience was unmatched, and that’s the day I totally fell in love with aviation and aircraft,” he smiled.
When his other classmates were planning to swarm downtown hangouts or fly abroad for chill time once their A level papers were over, Awais Haider Butt, however, was thinking about checking in to an aviation academy to take his long-awaited flight. Right after one week of A levels paper, Awais Haider Butt took his first flight lesson.
Did he want to become the youngest pilot of Pakistan?
“To be honest, it was never about becoming the youngest commercial pilot; I just wanted to become a pilot since the age of eight and all the years that followed were just I was working hard towards my goal. I think my personality helped me in becoming the youngest commercial pilot from Pakistan,” he shared his memories.
To meet his dream, he had to sacrifice a lot
“I can never rest when I have unfinished business. In this case, the unfinished business was to become a pilot. So, a week after I took my A levels exam was my first day at the aviation academy, which meant no summer break for me. But I was pretty happy about it. I finished my training in 18 months. I was 17 when I first flew the training aircraft and 18 when I started flying for a commercial airline,” he speaks in an impassioned tone.
His aviation training regime was not a bed of roses
“Right when I started my training, there was no looking back and no breaks for me. So I would say hard work, dedication and determination were the contributing factors for me becoming the youngest commercial pilot and definitely my parents’ prayers and family’s support also played the most important role.”
In his seven-year career, Awais Haider Butt has flown four planes
“During my initial training, I flew the Diamond 40, Diamond 20 and Cessna 172. And I’m currently flying Airbus 320.”
Of all of these aircraft, which one is his favourite?
“To pick a favourite is difficult, but I guess I would go with Airbus 320.”
In his career, he has faced many challenges. The most pressing one is coping with time zones
“Traveling in different time zone and being jet-lagged is one of the biggest challenges for any pilots and there is absolutely no cure to it. However, you could cope better with it by having a healthy lifestyle. Eat healthily, have healthy habits and do some physical exercise. As of me, I absolutely love cricket. I manage to play two to three matches a week that helps me stay in shape physically and mentally.”
What are your goals?
“From a professional pilot of view, my goal is to just keep working hard and would love if I could end up as a training pilot. And my personal goal is to try my best to increase the literacy rate in Pakistan, to explain to the kids in Pakistan how important education is in today’s world, and to give them a chance at being a successful individual by maybe just giving them the right information and guidance. Because sometimes all we need is someone to guide us. Also, I’ve my Instagram page which is @Awaisax8, with 90,000 people following me. Very honoured to say that there’s a lot of teenagers in Pakistan who think of me as their role model, and they contact me whenever they need guidance in the field of aviation.”
