Now is the perfect time to become a pilot

I am delighted to share an article from Tom Koppen, who is now a First Officer for Skyline flying an air ambulance from Napier. Tom has drilled firmly into the qualities needed to attain an airline pilot role - fierce determination and focus alongside working the big picture in aviation cycles. This article should give budding pilots further insight into the personal qualities required to succeed.

Over to you, Tom!

Tom living the dream

“The aviation world is yours for the taking. Now is the perfect time to become a pilot.”

This was the motivating statement when I began my studies at the International Aviation Academy of New Zealand (IAANZ). Little did I know, that just over half a year into my studies, I would be stuck at home with the aviation bug and locked down due to a global pandemic.

The opening statement in this article was true. Instructors were being swept up in mass hiring waves and heading into their dream jobs. It seemed as if my journey had been written for me before I had logged my first flight hour. Rather naively, I believed in everything that I was told only to be hit by reality after the first major lockdown.

Suddenly the atmosphere changed to one of uncertainty and the fear that I had made a poor decision. For the longer serving pilots, the scenario was similar to the events of September 11th 2001, and the Global Financial Crisis in 2008, which dramatically affected the aviation industry.  As a student, it appeared I had arrived at a crossroad.   Do I give up, learn a new skill, go to university?  Or do I continue and enter an aviation industry, perceived at the time, as no longer being an industry of growth, but one of decline?

When lockdown was lifted and I finally got airborne again, I knew that this was where I wanted to be.  I decided to push on and complete the course.

There were three key motivators that helped me reach my decision:

 First was the aviation bug, which to some extent all pilots have.

The second, was a statistic given during a presentation at a night class run by one of my mentors.

During this presentation, a young Air New Zealand First Officer explained her journey and motivation, quoting a statistic on her flight school class, of the pool of candidates who signed up to flight school, 90% passed, which is pretty good. Of that 90% only 30% got a flying job in aviation.  This was something which really got my attention!  From that point on I was determined to be part of that “30%”.

Last was a piece of advice given to me by a high school teacher about NCEA awards and scholarships.

He gave the class the scenario that we were all hanging from a pull-up bar. As time went by, one by one, people would let go.  The temptation would be to take the easy way out. However, if you just battled for every second while you were hanging there, you would eventually be among the last ones remaining.

Naturally, he was trying to motivate us to keep working hard and to get good grades while others would find different and perhaps easier pathways. ‘Hanging in there’ would make us candidates for scholarships and job opportunities. In a post-COVID world, I saw this advice in a way that meant that if I could ride out this wave, hang on just long enough, something good would come from this.

This meant it was no longer just a matter of how smart or good a pilot I was.  I would still have to pass all the written exams and practical flight tests, but even more importantly, I needed to be mentally strong as well. I needed to have faith in my decisions and believe that the current situation would eventually change -  that it was only a matter of time.

Tom and Skyline’s air ambulance

This mind-set caught a fair bit of flak. Upon completing my commercial licence, I applied for the instructor course at IAANZ and completed my ATPL theory. Some people thought it was a crazy idea, - that I was throwing my money away by adding to my already substantial student loan. To some extent I was.  There was no need to sign up to those courses, flight schools were letting instructors go, not hiring them. I could always do my ATPL subjects later, right?

Completing the extra courses helped to fill in the time and let the dust settle, so to speak. With the help of past instructors, I had managed to get a voluntary instructor role with the Air New Zealand Flying Club. Finally, a step in the right direction, I began to think that I had held onto that bar long enough!

The next step was to find something more permanent, expand my experience further and continue toward the dream job. The task ahead was one I did not look forward to, introducing myself to strangers was never my forte. However, sending off dozens of emails is not the best method to gain the attention of prospective employers.

Unfortunately, the wound that COVID had left was still open and at that stage there was only a metaphorical band aid holding everything together. 

I travelled up and down the South Island, meeting operators, doing ratings at aeroclubs on some cool aircraft, but the answer was always the same, “Sorry, with covid it’s just not the right time at present.”

I must have been rejected a few dozen times and at this point it seemed like the game was up and I was ready to let go of that pull-up bar.

To my amazement I returned from yet another failed trip to see that I had a message from a base manager for an aeromedical operator. Being completely honest, I am not sure how they found me - after all I had never met them and when I was a student, I always assumed aeromedical pilots were ex-airline pilots putting a final feather in their cap before retirement. This opportunity seemed too good to be true. I had been given the chance to prove that I could work in the aeromedical industry.

The rest is history and I now have one of, if not the most rewarding jobs.

Being able to use my skills and passion for aviation to help people receive the medical care they need brings quite a sense of accomplishment. Each flight is different, flying at all times of the day and night to destinations such as Wairoa, but also Auckland and Wellington, even Invercargill. The type of patient also varies. I have flown people coming home from surgery, able to walk themselves on to the plane and quite chatty.  Conversely, I have flown people who not an hour or two before had just been in a severe car crash. Each flight is a challenge, with many factors to consider such as cabin altitude restrictions, how quickly we must reach our destination or, do we take the long way around an airport to avoid descending over terrain that is known to cause turbulence. Yes Wellington, I am looking at you! 

I consider myself extremely lucky to have the job that I have, flying the awesome Beechcraft King Air B200. Sitting in the right seat at twenty thousand feet almost makes me forget about the few dozen rejections it took to get here. 

By now it is clear that my journey so far is one of highs and lows, just like anyone else in the aviation industry. Mentors have told me that the industry has a seven-year cycle, which if correct means you, the future pilot have signed up at the perfect time, the industry will bounce back stronger than ever and with movement within the industry ramping up I can only imagine the opportunities that you will create for yourselves. 

So, with that, I can confidently say, with everything you have experienced and what you will experience:  “The aviation world is yours for the taking. Now is the perfect time to become a pilot.”