Nine QantasLink employees from the Tamworth maintenance base were recently recognised for their long years of employment.
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Leading the pack was Trevor Reading with 45 years, followed by Glen Reedy with 25 years, Kathy Lawrence with 20 years, Cath Sumpter, Steve Westhorpe, Jon Weekes and Andrew Martin with 15 years, and Amy Eveleigh and Mark Hohnke with 10 years.
The group was acknowledged at a QantasLink function at the Tamworth Hotel, surrounded by friends, family and staff including Glen Reedy, Jenny Chamberlain and Tim Gent from Sydney, and Dave Delahay from Brisbane.
The star of the evening was heavy maintenance coordinator, Trevor Reading, who shared some of his experiences and memories with those attending.
Trevor grew up in Tamworth and said from an early age his mother, Bonnie, said he had a thing for planes.
“I was born with aeroplanes in my blood,” he said.
Bonnie supported his dream, driving him 72 kilometres a week to the base to wash planes in exchange for flying lessons.
On November 25, 1971 he was taken on as a refueller at Tamair (later Eastern Australia Airlines, now QantasLink) and a year later he started a three-year Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Apprenticeship.
He obtained his pilot’s licence in 1972 and flew regularly, acquiring a number of aircraft type ratings, including a Cessna 404 endorsement. His ability to fly proved an advantage as a mechanic and vice versa.
Trevor moved to Sydney in 1988 to work at a new base and ended up staying for ten years. It was here that he met his wife, Kylie who said they first came face to face on the tarmac.
They started a family, married and moved back to Tamworth in 1998 when Eastern Australia Airlines became part of QantasLink and started a heavy maintenance base.
Trevor said he has stayed for so many years because of the changes in aircraft which have grown in size and become more sophisticated.
“I’ve sort of stepped through the years without actually having to leave the company,” he said.
“The aeroplanes I’m working with now are extremely smart.”
One of the highlights for the coordinator was travelling around the world twice as part of his work.
“That opened my eyes to exactly how big the world is,” Trevor said.
It was during his time in Canada that Trevor became one of the first licensed aircraft maintenance engineers of early Dash 8 planes in Australia.
Despite the daily stress Trevor can experience in his role, it is clear that he still loves planes and he’s not ready to walk away just yet.