Cleared Takeoff

The high-profile speakers provided motivation and inspiration.

“I really enjoyed listening to everyone’s stories and their experiences breaking into the industry,” aspiring pilot Nicole Spencer-Scarr from St Peter’s Lutheran College said.

“When it comes to flying as a career, I’m not too sure yet whether I want a job with one of the major airlines or to fly smaller planes, so I used this camp to get more of an insight into the different career opportunities.”

Captain Young’s presentation specifically discussed QantasLink’s new initiative to support sustainable pilot development pathways. The Qantas Future Pilot Program aims to encourage development and provide advice to students completing aviation degrees from five universities across Australia, with successful students receiving employment upon their graduation.

Prior to Captain Young’s discussion were educational workshops and activities that allowed the high school students to begin to imagine how their aviation career could come together.

Three current Bachelor of Aviation students were involved with the program in the role of USQ Student Ambassadors. This provided the opportunity for the high schoolers to gain first-hand experience of mentorship and guidance in an aviation-specific background. In an industry where technical skills become a prerequisite, it is great to see universities educating soft skills to get students through the door of a company.

It was also great to see the gender break-up of these experience days as comprising 14 female and 10 male students.

“We’re now seeing airlines from around the world engaging with female pilots when they wouldn’t do that before, so this has created a great opportunity for women to join the industry, Professor Paul Bates, USQ Head of Aviation and Logistics, stated.

“Women are key to the future of the industry and here at USQ we’re very proud of attracting more women into our aviation degree program and to show them the pathways into the industry.”

Once this pathway is laid out, it then becomes easier to make the initial stages of planning and hypotheticals in a career a reality. Roughly 25 per cent of USQ’s cohort are female and have made these leaps already. To look into the future, if events like these continue to attract over 50 per cent females, then perhaps more females will choose aviation as a long-term career option.

This will not only even the male‑dominated field but encourage diversity of thought within workplaces and lead exponentially to further developments in the industry.

Overall, the experience days were a success. Another 26 students have been locked in to attend a repeat of the camp in September, and USQ is looking forward to continuing to offer these experiences to young people to consider a career in aviation.

What made it so popular? It was the idea of opportunity. It was because it helped open the doors that most students do not know how to open. It created that feeling of excitement that you get inside your stomach when you finally realise how you could make your dreams a reality.

That is why encouraging opportunity is the key.

Are you a young aviation professional with a story to tell? Email us your 800-word story pitch to ‘[email protected]’.