TravTalk India Online Magazine
As part of its CSR activity, SriLankan Airlines steadfastly supported the sporting career of its employee and visually-impaired athlete Khalid Oshman.
TT Bureau
The entire staff of SriLankan Airlines salutes its colleague, Khalid Oshman, the visually-impaired athlete who took on the tremendous challenge of the Ironman 70.3 Triathlon World Championship Qualifying Race that was held in Colombo on February 25. It is a supreme test of endurance in three sports consisting of a 1.9 km swim, 90 km bike ride, and 21.1 km run.
Oshman joined SriLankan Airlines a year ago as a Customer Service Officer at the SriLankan Aviation College in Katunayake. Expressing his gratitude to Sri Lanka’s national carrier for the support it has extending to him, he says, “I had applied for jobs at about 40 other companies, but most didn’t want to hire a person who is blind, although I had all the qualifications. But SriLankan Airlines was marvellous – the interview panel treated me as any other person. The Chairman, CEO and Head of Human Resources were especially supportive.”
Employees are proud of working with the airline and carry the same happy attitude as that of the island nation
The Ironman 70.3 consists of a number of qualifying halftriathlons held across the globe, from which the best qualify for the final World Championships to be held this year in Nelson Mandela Bay in South Africa. The ‘70.3’ refers to the total distance in miles (113.0 km) covered in the race which typically takes up to 7 hours to complete.
Komal Seth, Director, Outbound Konnections, PR Representation for SriLankan Airlines, says, “SriLankan is a very employee-centric airline and highly values its human resource. The airline has maintained its core values and ethics which have not been forgotten despite it being one of the fastest-growing airlines in Asia. Employees are proud of working with the airline and carry the same happy attitude as that of the island nation. As a result, the attrition rate is very low.”
