<p>I’m Marieke Dekker, 33 years old from The Netherlands.</p>
<p>I started flying the Boeing 737 a little over a year ago at Ryanair. Currently I am a First Officer at Transavia, a Dutch airline which is part of the KLM Air France Group.</p>
<p><img alt="Marieke" src="/getasset/2fc58118-9961-4850-92d4-e27c8ce56e62/" /></p>
<p><strong>What did you want to be when you were growing up? </strong><br />
I wanted to be so many different things, from Batman (when I was really little) to training horses and decorating homes. I always loved flying, but it seemed like such an unattainable job at the time that I just didn’t see that as an option for me.</p>
<p><strong>How did you get started in aviation? </strong><br />
When I was 23 years old I met this pilot in a bar. At that time in my life I was questioning if my office job was all there was in life for me, and if I have chosen the correct path. The guy told me that being a pilot was not as difficult as it looked and that got me thinking. At the same time, another male friend of mine was doing a selection for a flight academy because he wanted to become a pilot. At that point I started thinking, if these guys can do it, why wouldn’t I be able to become a pilot as well? So I went to a nearby airport and took a couple of lessons in a Cessna and asked the instructors to be honest with me about my chances to become a pilot, if they thought I have what it takes so to say. They were all positive, so then I took the next step and started looking for flight academies and entry requirements, visited open days at schools and so on. I did the selection at Martinair Flight Academy and passed al the selection rounds and around 6 months later my training started.</p>
<p><strong>Who is your biggest influencer in your industry and why?</strong><br />
For me Maria Pettersson (@pilotmaria) and Eva Claire Marseille (@flywitheva) were my biggest role models when I started flying. Since they are both female pilots and share so much of the job on their Instagram accounts, it gave me a nice insight on what to expect. Having those female pilots online also shows other girls that we can become pilots too, that’s one of the reasons I now also show my career via Instagram.</p>
<p><strong>What do you enjoy most about your job?</strong><br />
I love the starts and landings the most. The feeling of the power of the engines pushing you over the runway is pretty cool. Also the kick of managing to make a really soft landing, for me that are the perks of the job.</p>
<p>What I also really like is the atmosphere of the team and the being part of this big aviation family. The aviation industry has a really nice vibe, people are happy to do their job, we have a lot of humor and like-minded souls on board.</p>
<p><strong>What do you like least about your job? </strong><br />
The 3 AM wake-up, especially at the weekends.</p>
<p><strong>What piece of advice would you give your younger self starting a career in aviation? </strong><br />
Look for a flight academy that can help you with finding the first job. Whenever possible go to an academy that gives you a job guarantee. I finished my flight training in 2012, around the time where nobody needed a pilot. It took me 6 years to land my first job in aviation, and in the mean time you have to pay for all your training yourself. I went to the simulator every two months and had my licenses renewed each year. That’s just a lot of money when you have to pay that yourself.</p>
<p><strong>Where do you see yourself in 10 years?</strong><br />
Hopefully in the left seat at the same airline. I love the airline where I currently fly, so I have no plans of changing that, and for now the waiting time to become a captain is around 8 to 10 years. The corona crisis we are currently in is also not speeding things up, so my plan for now is just to become a better pilot every day, and enjoy this awesome job.</p>
<p><img alt="Marieke4" src="/getasset/3693db10-bb50-49db-9590-58fd3abe8464/" /></p>
<p><strong>Can you tell us a little bit about what training you have done in the past and how it has helped you get where you are? </strong><br />
I did an integrated ATPL training at Martinair Flight Academy in the Netherlands. There I got my PPL, CPL, IR, SEP and MEP ratings. Thereafter I focused on keeping all my ratings current by renewing them every year.</p>
<p>Part of the job interview in aviation is the so-called grading. There you have to fly in a simulator and show your skills and your capability to learn and to perform under stress. Since most airlines let you fly this grading in the Boeing 737, I started focusing on that after my ATPL.</p>
<p>I went to different simulator trainings in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany to learn from a bunch of different teachers. Most of my training, however, was at Sim4Pilots in Belgium, that instructor really learned me a lot and helped me prepare for every grading I went to.</p>
<p>When I later started my Type Rating for the Boeing 737 I really noticed that I had a big advantage because of all this training that I did, so I can recommend that to everybody as a safe investment in yourself and your career.</p>
<p><strong>What qualifications did you require to start your career?</strong><br />
Most airlines require a CPL(A) with IR and ATPL theory, the so called Frozen ATPL. This is normally the standard for when you graduate from a flight academy.</p>
<p><strong>What does your job entail?</strong><br />
The short summary would be bringing people safely from A to B. With that comes a lot though.</p>
<p>On each flight there are two different jobs. One pilot is the flying pilot and the other we call the monitoring pilot. The flying pilot flies the airplane, is responsible for the navigation and the weather, informing the passengers and monitoring the autopilot. The monitoring pilot is the one who does all the paperwork, talks to ATC, monitors the airplane as well and also monitors the flying pilot. These roles change each flight, so we both must be able to do both.</p>
<p>The captain is also responsible for the safety of the flight and the passengers, and is the so-called manager of the flight. The first officer, however, must always intervene whenever the captain would make a mistake that dangers safety and should take over his role when he would become ill during a flight.</p>
<p>When there would be a technical problem on board during a flight we also must be basic engineers. We must be able to figure out what’s wrong, what the impact of that issue is on the rest of the flight and make decisions on how to proceed based on that. We are able to communicate with real engineers on the ground, however we have to be able to bring the airplane safely to the ground with whatever issue occurs on board.</p>
<p><strong>What challenges do you face in your role?</strong><br />
Since it’s just us two in the cockpit, you must be able to adapt to all kind of personalities and cultures and work together in a friendly and safe manner. There is no room for big egos in our small cockpit and as a first officer you have to be able to adapt to the captain you’re flying with.</p>
<p>Fatigue is also a big challenge in our jobs. One week you can start the week with early flights which means getting up at 3 AM and a couple of days later (but within that same working week) you have some late flights which end at midnight. Your body is not really made for this, so you have a lot of mini jetlags to cope with.</p>
<p>I am flying mostly in Europe. However, if you are flying intercontinentally you also fly through the night and through time zones, which makes the challenge even bigger. You yourself are responsible for getting enough rest in your days off and for maintaining a healthy lifestyle to cope with this.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/pilotmarieke/?hl=en">@pilotmarieke</a> </p>
<p>I started flying the Boeing 737 a little over a year ago at Ryanair. Currently I am a First Officer at Transavia, a Dutch airline which is part of the KLM Air France Group.</p>
<p><img alt="Marieke" src="/getasset/2fc58118-9961-4850-92d4-e27c8ce56e62/" /></p>
<p><strong>What did you want to be when you were growing up? </strong><br />
I wanted to be so many different things, from Batman (when I was really little) to training horses and decorating homes. I always loved flying, but it seemed like such an unattainable job at the time that I just didn’t see that as an option for me.</p>
<p><strong>How did you get started in aviation? </strong><br />
When I was 23 years old I met this pilot in a bar. At that time in my life I was questioning if my office job was all there was in life for me, and if I have chosen the correct path. The guy told me that being a pilot was not as difficult as it looked and that got me thinking. At the same time, another male friend of mine was doing a selection for a flight academy because he wanted to become a pilot. At that point I started thinking, if these guys can do it, why wouldn’t I be able to become a pilot as well? So I went to a nearby airport and took a couple of lessons in a Cessna and asked the instructors to be honest with me about my chances to become a pilot, if they thought I have what it takes so to say. They were all positive, so then I took the next step and started looking for flight academies and entry requirements, visited open days at schools and so on. I did the selection at Martinair Flight Academy and passed al the selection rounds and around 6 months later my training started.</p>
<p><strong>Who is your biggest influencer in your industry and why?</strong><br />
For me Maria Pettersson (@pilotmaria) and Eva Claire Marseille (@flywitheva) were my biggest role models when I started flying. Since they are both female pilots and share so much of the job on their Instagram accounts, it gave me a nice insight on what to expect. Having those female pilots online also shows other girls that we can become pilots too, that’s one of the reasons I now also show my career via Instagram.</p>
<p><strong>What do you enjoy most about your job?</strong><br />
I love the starts and landings the most. The feeling of the power of the engines pushing you over the runway is pretty cool. Also the kick of managing to make a really soft landing, for me that are the perks of the job.</p>
<p>What I also really like is the atmosphere of the team and the being part of this big aviation family. The aviation industry has a really nice vibe, people are happy to do their job, we have a lot of humor and like-minded souls on board.</p>
<p><strong>What do you like least about your job? </strong><br />
The 3 AM wake-up, especially at the weekends.</p>
<p><strong>What piece of advice would you give your younger self starting a career in aviation? </strong><br />
Look for a flight academy that can help you with finding the first job. Whenever possible go to an academy that gives you a job guarantee. I finished my flight training in 2012, around the time where nobody needed a pilot. It took me 6 years to land my first job in aviation, and in the mean time you have to pay for all your training yourself. I went to the simulator every two months and had my licenses renewed each year. That’s just a lot of money when you have to pay that yourself.</p>
<p><strong>Where do you see yourself in 10 years?</strong><br />
Hopefully in the left seat at the same airline. I love the airline where I currently fly, so I have no plans of changing that, and for now the waiting time to become a captain is around 8 to 10 years. The corona crisis we are currently in is also not speeding things up, so my plan for now is just to become a better pilot every day, and enjoy this awesome job.</p>
<p><img alt="Marieke4" src="/getasset/3693db10-bb50-49db-9590-58fd3abe8464/" /></p>
<p><strong>Can you tell us a little bit about what training you have done in the past and how it has helped you get where you are? </strong><br />
I did an integrated ATPL training at Martinair Flight Academy in the Netherlands. There I got my PPL, CPL, IR, SEP and MEP ratings. Thereafter I focused on keeping all my ratings current by renewing them every year.</p>
<p>Part of the job interview in aviation is the so-called grading. There you have to fly in a simulator and show your skills and your capability to learn and to perform under stress. Since most airlines let you fly this grading in the Boeing 737, I started focusing on that after my ATPL.</p>
<p>I went to different simulator trainings in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany to learn from a bunch of different teachers. Most of my training, however, was at Sim4Pilots in Belgium, that instructor really learned me a lot and helped me prepare for every grading I went to.</p>
<p>When I later started my Type Rating for the Boeing 737 I really noticed that I had a big advantage because of all this training that I did, so I can recommend that to everybody as a safe investment in yourself and your career.</p>
<p><strong>What qualifications did you require to start your career?</strong><br />
Most airlines require a CPL(A) with IR and ATPL theory, the so called Frozen ATPL. This is normally the standard for when you graduate from a flight academy.</p>
<p><strong>What does your job entail?</strong><br />
The short summary would be bringing people safely from A to B. With that comes a lot though.</p>
<p>On each flight there are two different jobs. One pilot is the flying pilot and the other we call the monitoring pilot. The flying pilot flies the airplane, is responsible for the navigation and the weather, informing the passengers and monitoring the autopilot. The monitoring pilot is the one who does all the paperwork, talks to ATC, monitors the airplane as well and also monitors the flying pilot. These roles change each flight, so we both must be able to do both.</p>
<p>The captain is also responsible for the safety of the flight and the passengers, and is the so-called manager of the flight. The first officer, however, must always intervene whenever the captain would make a mistake that dangers safety and should take over his role when he would become ill during a flight.</p>
<p>When there would be a technical problem on board during a flight we also must be basic engineers. We must be able to figure out what’s wrong, what the impact of that issue is on the rest of the flight and make decisions on how to proceed based on that. We are able to communicate with real engineers on the ground, however we have to be able to bring the airplane safely to the ground with whatever issue occurs on board.</p>
<p><strong>What challenges do you face in your role?</strong><br />
Since it’s just us two in the cockpit, you must be able to adapt to all kind of personalities and cultures and work together in a friendly and safe manner. There is no room for big egos in our small cockpit and as a first officer you have to be able to adapt to the captain you’re flying with.</p>
<p>Fatigue is also a big challenge in our jobs. One week you can start the week with early flights which means getting up at 3 AM and a couple of days later (but within that same working week) you have some late flights which end at midnight. Your body is not really made for this, so you have a lot of mini jetlags to cope with.</p>
<p>I am flying mostly in Europe. However, if you are flying intercontinentally you also fly through the night and through time zones, which makes the challenge even bigger. You yourself are responsible for getting enough rest in your days off and for maintaining a healthy lifestyle to cope with this.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/pilotmarieke/?hl=en">@pilotmarieke</a> </p>