DESTINATIONS TRAINING | AVIATION
LEFT: Tui pilot cadets Jack Raybould and Maya Ghazal ABOVE: Training aircraft at Oxford airport PICTURES: Tom Platinum Morley Photography; Alice Barnes-Brown
a friend who said I could never be a pilot,” she says. “I was really annoyed – I wanted to prove him wrong. This funding opens up the door for someone with passion and dedication, and means they can follow through with their goals.” Just before his flight briefing, I chat to Matt Williamson, who worked as cabin crew for 12 years before joining the scheme. “I’ve been in awe of aircraft ever since I was a kid,” he says, recalling his parents taking him on weekly trips to the airport to watch planes take off. “My work in cabin crew was helping to fund my PPL [private pilot licence], but that can only get you so far.” His colleague Jack, whose father is a helicopter pilot, agrees. “Schemes like this are a godsend – and Tui gets the right people,” he says. “There’s integration with the company from day one, as you’re given a Tui uniform and equipment. But they don’t want robots; they want someone fun and charismatic.” Adeptness with people, as well as technical skills, are what’s needed
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to excel. Tui cadet and former RAF aircraft engineer Stephanie Schultz says: “The main thing about being a pilot is crew resource management – you have to be a good leader, and to pull the group through when things are in doubt.”
AROUND THE WORLD I ask each cadet what their favourite part of the job is, and they give me the same answer: transporting people to their dream holidays. Schultz says: “We spent two weeks at Melbourne Orlando airport in Florida – seeing the kids so happy as they get on board really makes your job worth it.” To round off the day, I don a high-vis and head out to the apron to watch the cadets accrue flying hours in four-seat Diamond DA40s. As Williamson careers past the billowing windsock and up towards the clouds, I feel an unexpected sense of pride. They may only be circling Oxfordshire’s green fields today, but some day, they’ll fly across oceans and continents.
TW
Fly direct to Canada up to 42 times a week
London Gatwick > Montreal Up to 8 flights a week
Manchester > Toronto Up to 6 flights a week
Dublin > Toronto Up to 7 flights a week
2024 World’s Best Leisure Airline
London Gatwick > Toronto Up to 14 flights a week
Glasgow > Toronto Up to 7 flights a week
With onward connections throughout Canada and beyond
Available to book in GDS Schedule shown applies to Summer 2025. Correct at time of print.
7 NOVEMBER 2024
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