\u201cSomeone told me to stay in the office for another five minutes; I thought there must be some sort of work thing, then my boss and team came towards me with a huge bouquet of flowers and told me the news,\u201d Beck said.<\/p>\n
Her goal of becoming an international commercial pilot began when she was on a school trip to Japan.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was sitting at the airport passenger gate looking out at a 787 and I thought, \u2018what a massive aircraft, how cool would it be to fly it?\u2019,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Beck began her journey at Southland Girls\u2019 High School, taking subjects required for pilot training.<\/p>\n
In her last year at school, she did a gateway course to learn flight radio and performed a trial flight with an instructor. <\/p>\n
\u201cGiven the high cost of flight training, I needed to be sure it was what I wanted,\u201d Beck said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole time I was up there I was grinning from ear to ear. That hasn\u2019t changed. Every time I\u2019m out flying, I\u2019m thinking \u2018this is just the coolest thing\u2019.\u201d <\/p>\n
Beck then completed a two-year course at the Southern Wings Flight School in Invercargill, and gained her commercial pilot\u2019s licence in 2019.<\/p>\n
When Covid-19 hit New Zealand, the aviation sector was shut down<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cThere were absolutely no jobs out there,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cMy mentor advised me that becoming a flight instructor would be a good stepping stone to getting a flying job, so that\u2019s what I did, self-funding study while working fulltime.\u201d<\/p>\n She achieved her instructor rating in 2022 and was accepted for a job in Whanganui.<\/p>\n Beck attained her Category B Instructor Rating in 2023, and a Multi-Engine Instructor Rating in October 2024. <\/p>\n Within six months of starting at the academy, she was promoted to the managerial role, training, managing and mentoring international and domestic students.<\/p>\n \u201cI love my job. It\u2019s challenging and rewarding helping these students who\u2019ve invested so much money and, in the case of international students, who\u2019ve come so far to achieve their goals.\u201d<\/p>\n