Air New Zealand domestic training in week 4: the turboprop and A320 course, the swim test debrief and the Kiwi approach to the classroom

Megan, Air New Zealand domestic training, week 4 of 6, Auckland, and Chris wrote the recruitment and the long haul side. This is the training from a domestic trainee, because the domestic course is the one most New Zealanders will do first and it has its own character.

The fleets

Domestic crew at Air NZ train on the A320 family for the main trunk and the trans Tasman, and some train on the ATR and the Q300 turboprops for the regional network. My course is A320 with the ATR to follow. The turboprop training is a separate short course and the regional flying is the one crew member operation that Fiona described for Loganair.

The swim test

Done in week 1, before the course really starts, because it is a regulatory requirement (CAA NZ) and the airline wants to know early. Fifty metres unaided, treading water for a period, the life jacket, the raft entry. Two of 18 struggled and were given a second attempt with a swimming instructor's help in week 2. Both passed. The airline does not want to lose people to the pool and it makes an effort. But Chris is right: learn the 50 metres before you apply.

The classroom

The Kiwi approach: first names for the trainers, a lot of discussion, questions welcomed and expected, and a standard on the exams that is exactly as strict as everywhere (the pass marks are the pass marks). The style is relaxed and the content is not. Trainees from overseas airlines in my course say the relaxed style hides a demanding course.

The SEP block

Weeks 2 and 3, the A320 doors and equipment and drills, the fire rig, the smoke, the exams. The same as every airline's SEP block. The Air NZ specific parts: the trans Tasman procedures, the New Zealand emergency services liaison, and a cultural competency module on tikanga Māori and the airline's approach to it, which is a real part of the course and which international readers will find unusual.

The service block

Week 5 and 6 ahead: the Air NZ service, which is the relaxed conversational style the recruitment threads describe, the domestic buy on board, the trans Tasman meal service, the announcements in English and te reo Māori (the greetings and the basics, taught properly). The service style is trained the way the Gulf trains its formality: deliberately.

The other trainees

Eighteen, ages 20 to 51, mostly Kiwi with three Australians, and the age range is the widest I have seen described on this forum. The 51 year old is a retired teacher and she is the best in the class at the exams and the worst at the door, and the 20 year old surf instructor is the reverse. They study together. It works.

For applicants

The course is friendly and hard. The swim is real. The tikanga module is serious. And the domestic flying at the end is the New Zealand life: home most nights, the islands, the weather, the 51 year old and the surfer on the same crew.