MEET THE CEO:VALENTINE DUMA

As a young man growing up in South Africa’s steel and coal mining town of Newcastle, Valentine Duma always had a keen interest in aviation.

An Embraer 145 in the Aves hangar.

ONCE HE HAD MATRICULATED from Newcastle College, his passion for aviation still burned brightly. However financial limitations meant that he had to start work in an unrelated field as he began his adult life. But by the time he reached the age of 23, his passion for aviation compelled him to follow his dream.

Valentine moved to Johannesburg with his young family and enrolled in an apprentice aircraft fitter programme at Denel Aviation. After completing the theory part of his training, he was accepted by Safair as an apprentice and the real on-the -job learning began.

Valntine’s passion and strong work ethic was soon noticed and within three years he had completed his trade test. Safair then moved Valentine from hangar to line maintenance, which opened up a whole new world for the ambitious young man. He was exposed to flight operations and all that comes with it. Working on live aircraft was something he found very challenging and rewarding. Soon he was chasing down and solving snags, dealing with customers and flying with the aircraft.

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