The Job

My husband plans to write a detailed report after he finishes training for those interested in relocating to Fiji for work, but in the meantime here is a little about the job that bought our family here.  October 28^th was the day we arrived and also his first day at work.  He went to the office almost everyday the first week, usually only for a few hours at a time.  Paper work, license conversion exams, a company issued medical, setting up company accounts, and getting to know the office staff.  Our arrival wasn’t without a few surprises.  First, he was presented a different contract.   He rejected it and they quickly honored the original terms and conditions, nevertheless it was a bit unnerving.  His intended SIM partner, also a new hire, ended up quitting the first week after being offered a more desirable contract in her home country at the last minute.  Leaving drama at the main office, along with my husband partner less for simulator. This issue was resolved and on November 3^rd he traveled to Auckland, New Zealand for SIM for five days then returned to Fiji.  After his return, the training continued for an additional two weeks of ground school during which aircraft systems, emergency procedures and crew resource management training takes place.  The CRM instructor was flown in from Australia and the class was well organized. The emergency procedures for a water landing even included mock drills at the local pool.  Ground school took place Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. give or take an hour.  The company does provide a taxi for pick-up and drop-off each day.  The schedule changes daily.  If you need complete control over your time you may find the first few weeks to be challenging.  You can anticipate waking up, getting ready then the phone will ring.  You don’t need to come in after all.  Ten minutes later, after changing back into causal clothes, you receive a call letting you know a taxi will be outside in twenty minutes ready to escort you to the airport.  On the flip side, the guys that are flying the line seem to have pretty consistent schedules.  Ground school is followed by a minimum of 30 hours of line training. Where you are observed and evaluated each day while flying the scheduled passenger flights.  This part of training is quite stressful because you are constantly being scrutinized and critiqued during a time when you are still very new and learning the environment, equipment, and the companies standard operating procedures.  His training will be concluded after a final check-ride thereafter he will begin flying a regular schedule as a captain.  His training should be complete tomorrow, which also corresponds with us being in country around seven weeks.  Dry details aside, he enjoys the flying and his coworkers.  He is home nearly every night and also receives two hard days off each week on top of this.   After tomorrow we will truly start to settle in and see what this place continues to offer.