Aircraft engineers start job training

 TEN Air Niugini cadet engineers, including two women, started their on-the-job-training with Hawker Pacific in Cairns, Australia, last week.

This follows the completion of their two-year training with Air New Zealand’s Aviation Institute in Christchurch, New Zealand, last month.

The cadets were in Port Moresby for their break before leaving for Cairns. 

Their training includes nine months of aeronautics, covering 10 basic modules divided into avionics and mechanics, which are two trades in aircraft engineering.

On behalf of the group, cadet engineer Solomon Kawage said the two years training in New Zealand was challenging and at the same time exciting for them.

“We were exposed to bigger aircraft and had the chance to work alongside people from other nationalities,” Kawage said. 

“We were exposed to new weather, although it was difficult in the first few months, we got used to it as the days and months went by.” 

Another cadet, Linda Eremas said they were grateful for the opportunity provided them by Air Niugini.

 “We know, we owe Air Niugini with the two years in New Zealand and now the training in Australia. We cannot wait to come back and give back the service to our own people.”  

Her advice to the up and coming cadets is: “It’s not a game, it’s tough. You must have the right attitude and always be on top of your game.”

Air Niugini invests heavily in the training of its staff, including cadet engineers and pilots, every year. 

The cost of training a cadet engineer over a four year period is K600,000.