11 Mar I have always loved mechanical stuff
My name is Aroa and I’m 29 years old. I have always loved mechanical stuff, but of course it was limited to cars. When you mention mechanics, everyone thinks about cars, motorbikes, or trucks.
I worked for 10 years as a supervisor in a tissue factory in Guadalajara, and in my spare time I taught myself to work on cars. Until one day I learned that it was possible to become an aviation mechanic. What? Airplanes? The bigger the vehicles, the more I liked them, so imagine working on an airplane! I found the idea terribly exciting.
So I wasted no time in finding out how I could enter that world. With the support of my husband and two children, I decided to change careers. I signed up for an official advanced professional training course in aircraft mechanics, and at last I’m doing what I most love.
My mother said, “But honey, that sounds like man’s work.” But I found that as many or more women were also attracted to the field.
Now Iberia is giving me the chance to put what I have learned into practice and to prepare me for the career I have embraced. The first year was classroom study at the technical training institute, and now I’m in the second year, working in Iberia Maintenance facilities and learning both theory and practice. At the same time, I’m studying on my own for the examinations that will earn me a licence as a Class A Aircraft Technician on a European level.
The first thing you notice when you get here is the great experience and the great passion of the teachers and trainers. I’ve been thrilled by the treatment we’ve been given by them and by all the other employees. But the best thing is to able to learn by working on actual aircraft –training doesn’t get any more practical than that!
They are such impressive machines that surprise me again and again and that I never tire of looking at.
In these past months we have worked in a variety of workshops, and the place I like best is Hangar 6, where I am now, where line maintenance is performed on Iberia planes and those of other clients.
Anyway, I must leave you now because today we’re learning how to inspect Airbus A330 landing gear, which has to support a weight of 160,000 kg. every time it lands, and I don’t want to miss anything. Because what I want most right now is to learn as much as I can and join the Iberia staff as an aircraft maintenance technician.