KEY POINTS:
Name: Natalie Bos
Age: 33
Role: Captain on a Jetstream 32 (19-seater commuter aircraft) with charter company, Air National.
Working hours: Flying is a 24/7 operation so pilots can be rostered to work any day of the week. A legal requirement prevents them from working more than six days in a
row and they must also have seven days off in any consecutive 28-day period.
Starting salary: First officers and captains on the Air National's Jetstream fleet earn salaries ranging from $27,000 to $65,000, plus non-taxable allowances.
Qualifications: Private Pilot Licence (PPL), Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL), C-Category Instructor Rating and Single Pilot Multi Instrument Rating (SPMEIR), ATPL (Airline Transport Pilot's Licence).
Why were you interested in flying as a career?
I have always wanted to fly since I was young. I had a dream of flying a 747 because they always seemed to be off to exciting places. Seeing the world from above sounded pretty cool to me and all the travel was very appealing.
Describe what you do.
The captain is the person who is ultimately responsible for the aircraft, its cargo and its occupants. If anything happens, the buck stops with him/her. It is my responsibility as captain to make sure the aircraft is safe to operate, that the passengers comply with all the rules and that the aircraft is operated within its limitations. I liaise with our engineering and operations department whenever anything goes wrong, like technical defects or the late running of a flight.
What sort of training is needed?
I did most of my study at Ardmore Flying School. The licences I obtained at AFS were PPL and CPL, along with my C-Category Instructor Rating and my Single Pilot Multi Instrument Rating. Type ratings I got at AFS were the Cessna 152, Cessna 172 and the Beechcraft Duchess (BE76).
My Airline Transport Pilot's Licence (ATPL) theory subjects were done through self-study although I did do three of the seven subjects through a short course. This was done outside of Ardmore.
I obtained my ATPL with Air National. Also at Air National, I obtained my Jetstream 32 type rating.
Your work history?
The qualifications I obtained at Ardmore Flying School (AFS) prepared me for a job as an instructor. I instructed for about 18 months, which built up valuable flying hours that I needed to move on to a job with a regional carrier on a turboprop aircraft.
The instrument rating at AFS prepared me for flying under Instrument Rules (IFR), which is what all the airlines fly by. It still took many hours to get really comfortable with flying under IFR, even after starting at Air National. The Jetstream 32 was much faster than anything I had flown before and so everything was happening a lot faster than I was used to.
I wanted to work for Air National because it is a charter company and we do a lot of interesting flying. We carry people around who just hire the entire plane to hop around NZ for a week and sometimes we get celebrities who want to go places anonymously. Sometimes, we fly bands around the country with the added perk that you occasionally get free concert tickets.
In the last couple of years, the focus has mostly been on scheduled flights for Eagle, while its aircraft are undergoing heavy maintenance, or filling in for Air Nelson.
I have been with Air National for 2 1/2 years. We are allowed to fly a maximum of eight hours a day but the most I have flown in one day was 6 1/2 hours.We have to have a minimum rest period of 10 hours between signing off from a duty and signing back on in the morning. I have averaged anywhere between 30 to 70 hours of flying per 28 days. We average about two overnights per week and they are usually in Oamaru or Blenheim.
What are your career goals?
My next goal is to get a jet job. I want to fly short haul (and maybe a bit of medium but certainly not long haul) on a Boeing 737 or an Airbus A320. As far as basic aviation training goes, I am done with that. The only training I will be undergoing from now on is that for obtaining new type ratings. I will also need to keep current on the aircraft I fly as we get checked every six months. Eventually, I would like to command a Boeing 737 or A320.