Winner Updates for 2025
Golly! Another year draws to a close. I swear the older you get the faster the years tick by.
Since last Christmas, we have all completed another circuit around the sun, spinning at about 1200 kph – yes! Truly! And not a hair out of place! Additionally, our solar system has travelled about 7.3 billion kms through the dark universe, equating to travelling at a speed of 828,000 kph – again, without ruffling a hair on our head. And why do I mention these phenomenal figures? Because most young pilots who have graduated this year (or any other year) are probably feeling like they are getting nowhere. At least, if their careers appeared stalled, they are still moving forward.
New CPL pilots staring down their huge debt and poor job prospects…
Earlier this year, there was bit of a kerfluffle about airlines being starved of new pilots, restricting airline growth. Somewhat surprisingly, the government said they would speed up pilot training – pump pilots through training much faster, produce more pilots…. Well, that is never going to work. All that will do is pump more money into training institutes, put more young people under immense debt pressure – and not solve the pilot shortage.
Pilots who graduate, no matter their skill and enthusiasm, cannot progress immediately into multi crewed flight decks because CAA has determined they need a minimum of 500 hours to be eligible. Newly minted CPL pilots emerge from training schools with about 200 hours. About 150 new graduates flood the market every year – for about 20 jobs annually in New Zealand General Aviation. More than 70% of qualified pilots will fall out of the system because they simply can’t find a paid flying role. And with each hour of flight costing a young pilot about $300 an hour to try and reach that magical 500 hours, gaining those hours almost becomes prohibitive.
At PFS, we feel the only thing that will get qualified pilots into the airlines is for CAA to drop the minimum 500 hours down to say… 300 hours. Afterall, new airline pilots are never alone in the flight deck. All airline flight decks have a minimum of two pilots.
We have found that the best way forward is to incur more debt and get an Instructor Rating - then hope like hell that enough flying clubs and schools will be happy to take on a ‘C’ Cat instructor who is still in supervision.
We, at PFS, believe this is your best bet to get your first paying role - Flight Instructor
To give you an idea how many jobs are available in the aviation sector, take a look at the new pilot job website https://www.avilink.nz/ . True it is a new site – but it’s grim out there….
With so much debt pressure and stalled career opportunities heaped up on new pilot graduates, how are our winners faring?
Let’s start at the beginning… We have 15 out of 18 winners moving through the pipeline towards their goal. One changed career very early on and another was unable to get his Class 1 medical (but all is not lost for him! Anaru is having a ball training as an avionics engineer with the Airforce 👍). One begins his training in the New Year.
Wen Seng Chen was our first recipient way back in 2018 when he was 15. He GRADUATED in June 2023. To date, he has not found a job and internal pressure has increased considerably as he wonders whether he will ever reach his goal. He has been working in retail, paying off debt as fast as he can and is getting ready for another push in the new year to get his career goals back on track.
Beni Rae was our winner in 2020. He was 16 years old. He GRADUATED in late 2024. He secured ground work with Sounds Air in Wanaka but was made redundant from there when Sounds Air pulled the pin on operating in the lower South Island. He is currently in Wellington working as an Emergency Dispatcher for the Wellington Free Ambulance whilst he seeks out a pilot job. He is planning on completing his Instructor Rating this coming year to improve his chances of getting a flying role.
Hamish Kirk was 16 when he was awarded his Scholarship in 2021. He is working steadily towards his CPL. Initially, he was with a Training Organisation but despite aceing exams and flight tests, there was an uncomfortable relationship with management. Hamish left that organisation earlier this year and is doing well training through the Air New Zealand Flying Club at Rangiora. He will likely complete his Multi Engine Instrument Rating (MEIR) with Southern Wings in Invercargill.
Ben Williams is our sixth winner, and was 19 when he received his award in 2021. He GRADUATED in July 2023 and trained as an Instructor. He became EMPLOYED as an Instructor in early 2024 and has now graduated to a ‘B’ Cat Instructor. He remains with South Canterbury Aero Club and is loving being an instructor. He currently has 1200 hours to his name and has trained multiple students to get to PPL and has trained a couple of people through to CPL flight test passes. Additionally, he remains intensely involved in club aviation and was heavily involved in delivering the Run the Runway event and recently hosted the Flying New Zealand Regional Competitions at the club, where he acted as an air judge. He’s also qualified through to Nationals once again in the CPL Low Flying competition.
Murphy McMillan, was a winner in 2022 at the age of 16. He GRADUATED in October this year. He is hungry for that first job and has road tripped around New Zealand dropping his CV into as many places as possible. He has plans to move to Australia to explore that flying market in the New Year.
Gemma Bray was 17 when she was awarded her Scholarship in 2022. She GRADUATED in July 2024 and was also accepted for a funded position training for her ‘C’ Cat Instructor’s rating at Nelson Aviation College (NAC). She gained that qualification at the end of 2024. After completing a roadie of the entire country with no apparent results, she went to Darwin in Australia to look over there for a job, whilst there, she was offered two instructing positions back here in New Zealand. She is now EMPLOYED by Nelson Aero Club as their only full time Instructor. She is well and truly out of supervision and is now considering her ‘B’ Cat rating. She is very happy in her role and is rapidly hour building.
All the above winners were Canterbury based as we were quite a small charity back then. All studied at the International Aviation Academy of New Zealand (IAANZ). However, in 2003, we had an explosion in growth, going from one award for Hillmorton High School students (John’s Alma Mater) and a single Special Award available to students from around Canterbury; to the single award for Hillmorton students and THREE scholarships available to anyone around the motu who fitted our criteria (and yes, my workload increased at the same rate!). We also expanded the number of FTOs so our winners had a choice.
Abi, Alika and Gemma at NAC
Abi Carter (Tauranga) was 20 when she became the first to receive the nationally available scholarship in 2023. Abi trained at NAC. She GRADUATED in August this year then promptly went on her nationwide roadie dropping in CVs. She has returned to her hometown and recently completed her Piper Cub rating. She is also currently completing her Australian Licence conversion to increase her chances to pick up that first role and is saving towards getting her Instructor’s rating.
Alika Hunn (Opunaki), 16 at the time, was the second nationwide winner in 2023. She chose to take a six month break between finishing school and starting her training at NAC, to earn as much money as she could. She begun her training in August this year. Alika has chosen to join the Flight Instructor stream, meaning she will qualify with an Instructor’s rating before she leaves NAC. She has completed her PPL and CPL theory and is now hour building. Earlier this month she passed her PPL flight test too.
Matthew Youssef (Auckland) received the third nationwide scholarship given out in 2023, when he was 16 years old. He started his training at Southern Wings Ardmore (SWA) base at the beginning of last year and is progressing well through his exams and flights. His intention after graduating is to go for his Instructor rating.
Dilan Richard Paul (Christchurch) was 26 when he received his scholarship in 2024. He was accepted under the ‘exceptional circumstances’ pathway. He started training at IAANZ in July 2024. He’s had a blast with his training, and any day now will sit his CPL flight test meaning he will graduate early next year.
Twilight Edwards (Whangarei) received her scholarship in 2024, aged 19. She started at SWA at the beginning of this year and has so far passed all her PPL exams and is working towards her PPL flight tests. We haven’t had an update from her for this article but, when we last communicated, she was back in Whangarei training with a Flight Instructor who specialises in teaching those with neurodiverse learning styles.
Mason Jensen (Wainuiomata) was 18 when he received his award in 2024. He is the first winner to train at Massey University School of Aviation (MUSA) and started there at the beginning of this year. When he graduates, he will have a degree in Aviation rather than just a Diploma. He has completed all exams for PPL and CPL and is now working towards his PPL flight exam which occurs in January.
Rocky Thom (Christchurch) received his scholarship in August this year. He is 20 years old and started at IAANZ in June 2024. He has passed all exams and is now hour building and is expecting to graduate early next year.
Carly Sherriff (Queenstown) received her award in October this year. She is 19 years old. Carly started at IAANZ in July this year and is working through her PPL and CPL theory.
Sion Kim (Auckland) is 18 and received his scholarship in October. He is still in Auckland but has been accepted to begin at NAC in February and he will join the flight Instructor stream. He has completed his PPL exams prior to going down to Motueka, and before he leaves Auckland, he will attend the Walsh Flying camp once more. As he was still in Auckland, we were able to arrange for him to have a session in the Air New Zealand B787 sim under the tuition of the inimitable Arthur Gatland – something he is likely to remember for his entire life.
Luka Winz (Auckland) is 19 and was our ‘last’ recipient for 2025. She started at NAC in July and passed her PPL flight test on the last day of classes, just last week. She is now thrashing her CPL exams and hour building.
So, there you are. You are all up to date on how we are doing. I’ll publish the updated ‘Winners’ page in February.
To break things down to cold, hard statistics this is how it looks…
18 winners
16 still on course working towards being an airline pilot
6 women – that is, one in 3 winners (hands down beats global percentages)
Ethnicities include Maori, Chinese, Hungarian, Egyptian, Sri Lankan, Japanese, Korean, German – however, everyone is a New Zealand citizen.
Total Scholarship value paid out so far is $234,000
6 have graduated as CPLs
2 have found paid flying work - as Instructors
12 in training, or about to be.
We couldn’t have done all this without our sponsors – The Hugo Charitable Trust, The Gattung Foundation and retired Captain Dave Meale. We thank them for their support and belief in our winners from the bottom of our hearts.
John and I also thank those wonderful people who contribute to our blogs, support our selection process and encourage us on. We also thank the Flight Training Organisations that work with us – IAANZ, NAC, Southern Wings and MUSA. Let’s do it all again, next year!
And…. If you have read this far, you deserve to know a secret. It’s just between you and me… we actually have a FIFTH winner for this year! It all came together last week. We will announce the TRUE last winner of 2025 in February. See you then 👋
And have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A JOLLY NEW YEAR! 🎄
