And now for the next mountain

It seems to me, just when you have overcome something in life or achieved a great goal, there is another mountainous challenge just ahead. At first it appears insurmountable, but as you start to climb you get a different perspective. Whilst we have recently reached a huge milestone in Al's career it means that looming in front of us is the next big challenge.

Al has just completed his ATPL (Airline Transport Pilots Licence - for those not 'down' with the lingo) exams, which is a great accomplishment. I could not be more proud of him. He has worked and studied and been a house-husband and moved states among so many other things AND managed to pass 7 exams including things like Air Law (yuk!) and Aerodynamics and aircraft systems (double-yuk!). In with all of this study he also achieved 1000 hrs single engine and 500 hrs twin engine time.

With all of that out of way the only thing left to do is to start applying for jobs in the airlines. The thing is....where do you start. Al and I have had numerous conversations about what airlines he should target, what are the chances of achieving any of these things in the next 6 months and most importantly where we are prepared to go. Which leads me to a wonderful thing called the "Wife's power of veto".

As a wife I have the 'power of veto' over destinations (or airlines) in which we may come to live in our lives. Fortunately, I didn't veto Gove as we had a most fabulous time, but there are a few places....and few airlines...which have made my veto list. Here they are in no particular order...

1. Defence forces (sorry, I'm not being one of the Defence force wives who stays home with the kids - that the husband conceived but never sees cause he's always deployed overseas.)
2. Aero-flop (known officially as Aeroflot but given the recent crash I think my alternative is more appropriate)
3. Virgin Nigeria (Sorry Sir Richard but not even you can convince me to move to Nigeria)
4. Sierra Leone (both Star Air and Air Universal have been banned from UK air space)
5. Cameroon (Cameroon Airlines banned from both UK and French air space)
6. Basically any airline in Africa (if you read the list of banned airlines...most of them are from the African region)

Now not to seem completely negative (and so it doesn't sound like Al is completely henpecked), here is my wish list for Al's dream jobs. These are not just made up by me, some are from discussions with Al.

1. Cathay Pacific (Hong Kong's a great place for ex-pats, plus think of the shopping!)
2. Singapore Airlines (So central to all of Asia, plus think of the shopping!)
3. Qantas (okay, so 'Qantas never crashes' but it has had some incidents recently. Despite which, I still think it would be cool to work for our national airline)
4. Royal Brunei (Despite being a dry, Muslim state, it is one of the mostly wealthy sultanates in the world with a fleet of new aircraft on order)
5. Air Canada (let's face it, I just love the thought of living in Canada)
6. Cushy Corporate Jet job (flying some celebrity or wealthy business man around could be fun - just don't give him your kidney!)

I'll keep you up to date as the journey progresses and I know, like me, you'll be so excited the day you on a plane and you hear "This is your First Officer Allan speaking".