Air New Zealand has launched its first-ever Mangōpare Pilot Cadetship, designed to inspire more individuals to pursue a career as a pilot by reducing financial barriers and accelerating the journey to becoming a commercial pilot.
The all-inclusive training programme will initially select 30 cadets to commence training in small cohorts from September 2024, with the majority of costs, including training and living expenses, funded by Air New Zealand (subject to conditions).
Air New Zealand Chief Operational Integrity and Safety Officer Captain David Morgan said, “Looking at both short and longer-term solutions to training pilots is crucial to ensure the airline can meet future travel demand.”
“That’s why Air New Zealand is taking this proactive step to fund the majority of the training costs for 30 cadets. The programme not only opens the door for individuals from all backgrounds to consider a career as a pilot but also provides an expedited training pathway,” he said.
To quickly establish the cadetship, cadets will initially train overseas using existing capacity while Air New Zealand conducts a procurement process to identify a long-term domestic training provider. Cadets will be predominantly based in Arizona, learning to fly single and multi-engine planes, before travelling to Dubai to complete simulator sessions and become type-rated to fly ATR72-600 aircraft.
Successful cadets will have a pathway to employment as an Air New Zealand pilot once qualified.
The airline is also launching an Expression of Interest (EOI) to find a training organisation in New Zealand to deliver a fully integrated airline pilot training cadetship, fully aligned with Air New Zealand turboprop aircraft operations.
Captain Morgan said, “The future success of the Mangōpare Air New Zealand Pilot Cadetship will rely on the pilot training sector working together in a way that it hasn’t done before to build and deliver a cadetship that means more pilots can be trained, faster, and ensure that we can meet the travel and export demands of Kiwis in the future.”
Applications for the cadetship are open until July 8, with full details and eligibility criteria available on the Air New Zealand website.
