Sibongile Sambo Didn’t Get The Job As A Flight Attendant So She Started Her Own Airline

Sibongile Sambo was declined a position as a flight attendant with South African Airways because she did not meet the minimum height requirement to become one. Not to be deterred from pursuing her lifelong passion of working in the aviation industry, Sibongile decided to start her own business. To raise the initial start up capital, she sold her car and used her mother’s pension money.

Today, she is the founder of SRS Aviation, Africa’s first female aviation company.

Since 2004 when SRS was commissioned with their first flight for the South African government, SRS Aviation has grown to provide personalized services, including helicopter, tourist and luxury flights to destinations spanning the globe. The Johannesburg-based crew have flown as far as the U.S. and Germany.

“It could be a tourist charter for $1,000 or could be a head of state traveling on a VIP aircraft to the United States, which could be about $200,000,” said the entrepreneur.

Having fulfilled her own dreams in the aviation business, Sambo says she wants to enable the dreams of other South African women with similar aspirations.