IF you do not know Captain Debbie Gouveia, you may more than likely never be able to distinguish her from the line staff at the Roraima Airways Group of Companies.

She does her job as ‘the other half’ of the husband-and-wife dual ownership of the prestigious Roraima Airways with remarkable humility; but when called upon for an imput, it is immediately evident that ‘Debbie’, as she is fondly known to friends and co-workers, belongs to the league of more competent professionals and astute decision makers in Guyana.
Debbie earned her reputation as a respected professional many years ago when she acquired the distinction of being Guyana’s first female aircraft pilot to fly the jungles of Guyana as a commercial airline captain.
She has safely piloted all across Guyana, the Caribbean and South America the planes of Air Services Limited, Trans-Guyana, the GDF Skyvans, and eventually those owned by the Roraima Airways.
Captain Debbie Gouveia is a graduate of the Flight Safety Academy in Florida, USA, and of the Oxford flight Training Academy in the United Kingdom.
To complement her role as the hard working ‘boss lady’ of Roraima Airways, Debbie religiously shows up for work in the company’s branded polo shirt and slacks.
At the Roraima Duke Lodge in Kingston, where her office is located, she could often be found in high level meetings with senior representatives of international airlines negotiating contracts to provide aviation security and ground handling services at the nation’s international airport, or planning charter flight itineraries for foreign investors to different destination across Guyana, using her own planes.
Leading by example, the female Captain Gouveia could also be found working shoulder-to-shoulder alongside her line staff, cleaning the compound, packing the bar, sorting tables, and taking breaks only to meet and greet the hotel guests and other clientele making reservations for wedding conferences and cocktails, among the many events facilitated by the US multi-million-dollar company that has come to be regarded as one of the city’s best appointed locations for up-market entertainment.
In every instance, Debbie brings calm yet confident certainty, as she appears to be the same unruffled individual focused on making her contribution to the Roraima Group without drawing unnecessary attention to herself. Her approach to managing the scores of Roraima Airways employees located at the company’s multiple locations is to lead by example. She is ever ready to perform any task that she would assign to her staff.
Debbie is a passionate advocate of “shoulder-to-shoulder leadership.” She explains, “It’s the best form of leadership (to) motivate by doing what you ask others to do.”
Whether she is coordinating and managing the complex task of the actual operations of the passenger and aviation security services for Delta Airlines or for Suriname Airways, her calm, professional and confident style is always evident.
Although Debbie is keen on being regarded as part of the team rather than the head honcho, it is easy to see that she is the conductor and the leader of the team.
Some admirers suggest that her effectiveness is based on her style, her warmth, and her polite interaction with her staff. They think that other employers might consider this too soft for leadership, but
Captain Debbie Gouveia does not embrace that philosophy.
Roraima’s First Lady believes that reciprocal respect between management and staff is an investment in corporate loyalty, and the seeds from which one harvests business success. The available evidence suggests that her methods work very well. One of her ardent admirers have suggested a book deal for her: “Management for Life, the Entrepreneur and Wife” by Captain Debbie Gouveia.
On top of her corporate responsibilities, Captain Debbie Gouveia is also a mom, a role she treasures as paramount. A lot of her time was spent in Canada ‘watching over’ her two sons, Gerry (Jr.) the elder, and Kevin, her pride and joy, are now young adults and are in the process of fashioning careers of their own.
Debbie is as much a dedicated mother as she is a corporate captain, and she plays an integral role in the personal growth and development of her children.
“There is,” she says, “a certain future for the company embodied in the commitment and interest demonstrated by my sons.” With a pleasant smile and a mixture of both personal and professional pride, she says, “Both Gerry and Kevin are committed to the continuity of Roraima Airways.”
The foundation for that continuity is already being laid in what Debbie says is a regime of family consultation that includes the younger Gouveias.
“They are aware of what we do as a company…. There is a great deal of consultation, and we share emails and other correspondence with them on a regular basis.”
Debbie makes no discernible distinction between loyalty to family and loyalty to business.
From the First Lady’s standpoint, playing an integral role in the growth of Roraima Airways is an extension of her wider role in the strengthening of her family. “I do it for my boys,” she says.
Over time, Captain Debbie Gouveia has succeeded in slipping seamlessly from the life of a full time airline pilot to that of a partner in a growing and successful business enterprise. She has done so, as she puts it, without “missing my past.”
Debbie believes that her career as a pilot is but a phase of her life that is now being overshadowed by the higher demands of the day-to-day management of Roraima Airways.
She does, however, admit that there are occasions when she ventures into the cockpit of one of her company’s aircraft, taking to the skies with the reassuring presence of the company’s Chief Pilot beside her.
Over time, Captain Debbie Gouveia has learnt to embrace the life she lives as wife, mother, pilot and entrepreneur.
She remains, largely due to her grace and humility, one of the least known owners of major business houses in Guyana. This, however, has never concerned the Roraima First Lady one bit. She can, as she humbly puts it, do without the glitz and glamour of the limelight.
Her personal philosophy allows her to rest comfortably in the anonymity of being a team player. She is thoughtful in her reflection on the company’s anniversary.
“The achievements that we’ve attained,” she says, “are most attributable to the vision and dogged determination of my husband, and to the company’s good fortune of being able to recruit committed and loyal staff.”
Captain Debbie Gouveia shares her husband’s preoccupation with growth and expansion, and admires the manner in which he has infused a sense of loyalty to his country into what he has offered the great Republic of Guyana as an entrepreneur.
She is crystal clear about what she wants most for the company in the future. She wants to see an expanded fleet of aircraft offering both passenger and cargo service to Guyana. It would also be nice, she says, “if we can have a chain of small hotels” under Roraima’s ownership.
Perhaps her most fervent wish is to see her sons assume the mantle of leadership in a company created and grown by their parents.