Alice Yatsevich, First Officer at Texel Air
What is your Job? I am a pilot.
What does a normal day look like for you? On a normal day I wake up late because I sign on in the evening. This gives me the whole day to do what I like, this morning I went for a swim at the beach. I get emailed my flight plan and weather a few hours before my shift, once I get to work the Captain and I discuss how much fuel we would like for our flight and put in the order. We also get notified of anything important on board like animals, medicine or very special items. That takes about an hour, then we get to the best part, we fly the plane and the packages to where they need to go. I usually finish work in another city and spend the night there in a hotel, flying home the following day.
Crazy story from work? Something that stands out is receiving a phone call when I was sitting on the couch on my day off from work, they asked me if I could get on a flight to Brisbane ASAP to operate a very special flight into Birdsville. It’s a lot of fun going to new places so of course I said yes, what I didn’t know is the flight was not regular passengers, it was all musicians performing at the Big Red Bash, Birdsville. I was lucky enough to fly some very iconic Australian musicians like Paul Kelly to the show.
What is your favourite part of the job? Hard to pick one part! I love my job but particularly the people I work with. My colleagues make my days really enjoyable and easy, I learn a lot from them and I feel very fortunate to be surrounded by such experienced pilots from all over the world. They have some seriously incredible stories about flying in Swedish winters and to safari parks in South Africa. The aircraft is also fun to fly and keeps me on my toes, no two days are the same in the Boeing 737.
How did you get to where you are today? I had a lot of help and was surrounded by people who believed in me. To become a pilot you need a lot of persistence, I did not get the first cadetship I applied for but I continued to study, improve my skills and sought out opportunities. I recommend reaching out to people in the industry, they can guide you and provide much needed advice and perspective.
What qualifications do you need to apply for your job? A commercial pilots licence with a few years experience.
What character qualities do you think suit this position? Flexibility, resilience and curiosity.
What is involved in the training for your job or for the qualification you gained to get your job? I did a cadetship – this involved living on a campus for a year and flying full time in addition to exams and classroom work.
If you could go back and give your younger self some advice, what would it be? Enjoy the ride, some of your fondest memories will be at your first flying job.
