Women among other Air Niugini aircraft maintenance engineers back from training

TWO women are among a group of 10 Air Niugini aircraft maintenance engineers (AMEs) who have just returned to the country and joined the airline’s workforce.
That followed the completion of four years of training at the Air New Zealand Aviation Institute in Christchurch.
The new engineers are Patrick Misina, Melvin Paru, Breanne Ume-Taule, Simon Silas, Temuera Samuel, Dennis Kasup, Bernard Kari, Branden Boeha, Jeremy Camillus and Miriam Tai whose training was fully funded by Air Niugini under its engineering cadet programme.
It cost over K6 million to train the group.
Air Niugini chief executive Simon Foo, when welcoming them home yesterday, said the airline invested a lot of resources into training young Papua New Guineans and the results were very rewarding.
“Aviation is a highly regulated and compliant industry and we are serious about training, whether it is for engineers, pilots, cabin crew, or ground staff. Air Niugini invests about K600,000 to train each young Papua New Guinean engineer or pilot cadet.
“The achievement by these 10 young people is something Air Niugini, their families and our country can be proud of.”
Following a four-year cadet programme, it takes about 12-14 months for the engineers to get their PNG licence.