Cameron Healey – A Kiwi who finally got his airline wings at nearly 50 years old.

Cameron came to our attention a little while ago and we approached him to see if he would share his flying journey with us as he is one of many who left our shores in the 1990’s after accepting that a flying career wasn’t going to happen here (in the aviation downturn of that era).

However, life got in the way and Cameron came to airline flying quite late in life as he had established himself in a publishing career in the States.

But his dream had never left him and finally, as he approached 50, in 2015 he took the determined step to become an airline pilot. A couple of years ago, he was interviewed for a publication, and he has kindly given us permission to reprint the interview and sent us a few photos.

Cameron has continued to advance his career since the interview took place and he reports – “Naturally, a few things have changed since then, primarily, entering the Training and Standards Department as an FMS Instructor in late 2021 as an FO and then transitioning to the left seat early 2022 and now as a Check Airman in late 2022.”

Cameron’s story demonstrates that no matter how old you are, you can still follow your dream and no matter how far your career has advanced, there is still something more you can do.

Cameron Healey (left)

Interviewed by Tracy Brown for her book ‘Air Transportational Professionals: A Practical Guide’.

Cameron Healey is an expat New Zealander who has called Seattle, Washington, home for more than twenty years. He’s been working on a bachelor’s degree majoring in aviation management over the last several years while juggling being a dad to his twin boys and husband to his wife of more than twenty years.

“My aviation journey began in New Zealand in the early 1990s where I worked in hospitality while chipping away at my private, commercial, and C-Category flight instructor ratings [certified flight instructor (CFI) equivalent],” Healey says. “Brief stints instructing and flying tourists in a Cherokee Six followed; however, steady flying opportunities in the early nineties, in New Zealand, were particularly elusive.

“Fate would have it I would soon meet my wife, a Montana native, while traveling in the United States. She has been my greatest supporter in both life and career. However, [since I had] a young family and a career in publishing well established, aviation quickly morphed into more of a ‘weekend warrior’ mentality with the odd weekend flight taking friends and family up for a joyride around the Pacific Northwest.

In 2015, it was time to revisit my original aspirations of becoming an airline pilot, and after two years working hard to complete my FAA certificates and then instructing out of Paine Field, Everett, Washington, to gain additional experience, I was fortunate to join Horizon Air as a first officer flying the Embraer 175 regional jet. Of course, my lifelong commitment to learning continues as I am currently training as a flight management system or FMS instructor with the training department. With a little luck and good fortune, I will hopefully continue to fly commercially until mandatory retirement at sixty-five years young. The adage that you will never work a day in your life if you do what you love has proved true. In fact, I would also wager that ‘never give up on your dreams’ also holds true—if you want it bad enough. Kia Kaha!”

How did you choose being a pilot as a career?

Aviation for me started as young as I can remember. I’m pushing fifty, and I can remember being four years old and just being fascinated by airplanes. We used to do a weekly family drive to the local airport, which was Christchurch, and we’d just walk through the terminal. I can still remember the smell of it. The feeling of the nylon carpet. It would generate so much static electricity that, back then… The terminal had these open, steel beams. And when you touched them, you’d get a legitimate shock. It’s fascinating the things you remember. I’d see the pilots and flight attendants and the airplanes, and there was just something that wasn’t necessarily tangible for me, but it just felt right. Just felt comfortable. And I had my first trial flight when I was fifteen years old. Money was a bit tight. But my mum was able to save up some money and buy me a twenty-minute trial flight. It was only twenty minutes, but even today I remember it so vividly. It stuck with me. I was sold on it from that point. I remember saying to my parents that I wanted to be a pilot when I was older. My mum was very supportive. My dad kind of felt my head was in the clouds, said it was very competitive and maybe I should focus on going to university and getting a law degree or an economics degree. He didn’t necessarily see what I saw. And I get it, I’m a dad. But for me, I didn’t need any encouragement.

Can you describe your educational/training background and career path to date?

When I left high school at seventeen, I made the decision to bypass university and beat the pavement. I found a job at a five-star hotel. Long story short, I stayed in hospitality for over five years working as a concierge, helping at the front desk. I lived off my tips, and I set aside my wages and put them into flying. In the early 1990s, it was very expensive to have flight lessons. I could only afford one hour a week. So, it took me four years to get my private license and my commercial license. And then after four years, my dad realized this wasn’t just a pipe dream for me, and he helped me pay for the flight instructor course.

In New Zealand, and it’s very similar in the US, you need to have a minimum of forty flight hours to get your private license. That’s going out with an instructor plus flying solo and learning manoeuvres. Forty is the minimum, but most take between forty and sixty to complete their private certificate. In today’s dollars, that can be anywhere from US$10,000-plus. Most people take six months to a year to get the private license. To get a commercial license, you need two hundred hours. So, it takes some time to get those additional 150 hours. It took me three years. At the time, it wasn’t easy to get a bank loan. I had friends with better access to capital, [which] meant they could move through the system faster and do what took me four years in eighteen months. It took me a long time, blood, sweat, and tears.

What are some challenges you have faced along the way?

Early in my training, I experienced a few check ride failures. I was gutted. First time was pure bad attitude. Flying came easy to me. My instructors thought, oh you’re going to do this no problem. So, I didn’t prepare. I didn’t have that level of maturity. After finally successfully earning my certificates, I committed not to mess around, and I was able to conquer any lingering self-doubt. However, I felt that no airline would hire me. I earned a flight instructor certificate at twenty-two, and despite experiencing some adversity, I found a way to get through it, and from then on I tried to find a job. And it was so difficult. Jobs were few and far between. I did some instruction, I flew tourists on demand, but had no consistent work. I felt disillusioned about things. I made the decision that I needed a break and went to the US and traveled for a few months. Had a blast. It was just what I wanted and needed at the time, and I met a girl who is now my wife. I fell in love and decided to stay in the US. I thought flying was over for me. I really did. I don’t know if I was burned out from working so hard for so long. I was disappointed. I fell into publishing. It turns out, I love a challenge. I have learned that self-doubt shouldn’t rule what you do. I loved publishing, developing something from scratch and building it up. I had a profitable publication, but something was missing.

 What finally brought you back to flying?

For years and years, I felt that something was missing in my life. There was always a sense of unfinished business for me. For nearly twenty years, flying was always in the back of my mind. I had a friend who worked for American Airlines. He said I should consider going back to flying. I laughed, thinking I was too old. But I talked to my wife. She was incredibly supportive and knows this has always been on my wish list. We invested more money to allow me to complete my US flying certificates including multi, instrument, commercial, and flight instructor ratings. I instructed in Seattle for about eighteen months to generate enough experience to qualify for the airlines. No American airline will consider you with fewer than fifteen hundred hours. I had multiple offers from regional airlines. The sense of, I guess, hope—it was tangible. I thought, wow, this really might happen. I interviewed with one of the US’s oldest and most respected regional airlines and got an offer. I started in 2019. I was going in with the least amount of multi-engine experience. I had three months of training, and it was the most challenging thing I’d ever done. It was like drinking from a fire hose. Each simulator was two hours of briefings followed by four hours of training followed by an hour of briefing. I dug deep. Passed everything first time. After that, I had an airline transport pilot license. I’ve been with the company for two years and should be upgrading to captain in about six months. I worked hard and I’m proud to say I’m living my dream. I’ve gone from very good money to modest, but I couldn’t be happier doing what I do.

 What do you love about being a pilot?

I think it’s the challenge. There’s no question once the main wheels leave the ground there’s a magical sensation of freedom. When you look down at a building that’s familiar to you, it’s a different world. There’s no doubt some escapism, little bit of romanticism. I love traveling. I love meeting new people. I love the personal challenge that every flight, every landing is different. You can be to a place twenty times in one month, but every flight is different. There’s a real skill to manoeuvring a jet whether in a snowstorm or landing in gusty wind conditions. There just is. It’s an awesome challenge. I learn from tough scenarios. They make me a better pilot. I’m always looking for self-improvement and that feeling of accomplishment. There’s a large degree of pride and integrity to what we do.

What kinds of qualities and personal attributes do you consider advantageous to doing your job successfully?

If you want to be a commercial pilot, you have to commit. My level of commitment was very long. You’ve got to want it. You might fail a written or practical component of your training. That’s okay. It’s not the end. Think about what you can learn from it. That’s what airlines want to know. They want to see how you handle a knock in self-confidence. You’ve got to believe in yourself. Be relentless. Don’t allow anyone to say you can’t do it. If you want it, and you’ve got to want it, then you have to be prepared to be in it for the long haul.