00:00I started the airline during the pandemic and that time I didn't really know much about
00:08the airline industry yet.
00:15My name is Raina Brito.
00:17I am the CEO of Sunlight Air.
00:19I am 28 years old and I'm from the Philippines.
00:25In the airline industry, there are just so many government regulated manuals, policies
00:33that you have to have approved.
00:35So in the beginning, you really need to go and meet these local government units.
00:44I've had people in my team, they don't want me to go because people might not take me
00:52seriously or they might disrespect me because I'm a woman.
01:01That is something that you could experience as a young woman in an industry full of men.
01:09But I, of course, as a woman in the 20th century, with pride, I say, no, I will go.
01:23I step into the room and I tell myself, it's okay, you can do it.
01:30And I start to prove everybody wrong.
01:33I meet these people, I get our licenses from these meetings, eventually, of course.
01:42When I took charge of operations of Sunlight Hotels and Resorts Group from my dad, there
01:49was no Sunlight Air, right?
01:52Well, that time, there were really very little airlines that were flying to Busuanga.
02:01So that was the main reason why we started the airline business.
02:06Sunlight Air, it's really propelling the business despite the pandemic.
02:15I've always dreamt of Sunlight Air to be at least one of the top three or four domestic
02:22airlines in the Philippines.
02:24So I want to grow more routes domestically and then hopefully grow some regional flights.
02:34We are in an industry where most of our staff are male.
02:39So it's important for us that we are welcoming of female pilots, female mechanics.
02:47We're welcoming of female engineers.
02:57We need to let children of the generation today know that if they want to be in the
03:04airline or aviation industry, that they are more than welcome.
03:10So basically, as a CEO, I cover everything that happens in this business.
03:21I would want to take a step back a little bit.
03:28I have a team of 120 now, and I do want to delegate to my team as much as possible.
03:36But sometimes, yes, I cannot help but know every detail.
03:40Because of course, I started this startup, this baby, from scratch.
03:44I cannot help to know every detail, but yes, I am hoping that I get to let go of some details.
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