Taleah's Journey from Cadets to QantasLink

I love being a pilot. It takes a lot of work to get here and there’s a lot of responsibility on you. It can be high pressure but it’s rewarding to develop yourself professionally, operating to a high level of unique skills – that’s what drives me. I’m also very privileged to have seen so much of Australia and experienced so much of its culture throughout my career. 

I started flying when I was 16 and joined the Air Force Cadets. I was influenced by my uncle who was in the army. He was a volunteer in the Army Cadets. The Cadets gives you a taste of what it would be like in the Air Force – you go on military planes and to bases, camping, abseiling and shooting on the range. It’s where I found my interest in flying. 

After training in Cessnock, flying in the Northern Territory and then out of Scone, in country NSW, for several years, I came to QantasLink as a first officer in 2018. I started on the Dash-8 Q400s as a first officer and then became a captain on the Q300s and Q200s. At QantasLink you fly a big network around regional Australia. It could be Broken Hill, Launceston, Griffith or Lord Howe Island, which is a favourite. It’s one of the more challenging airports to fly into but absolutely stunning. 

As a captain you can have a large customer-facing role, particularly if there’s a delay. If there’s a disruption I try to stand up in the cabin or somewhere face-to-face to explain what’s happening. QantasLink customers are great and they’re often regular flyers; it’s good to keep people informed in an honest way and reassure them that everyone’s doing everything they can to help get them where they need to go. 

I’ve recently started training on the A330 wide-body aircraft. I’ll be moving to the role of a Qantas second officer soon, flying to places like Tokyo, Seoul and Delhi, which is really exciting. The best thing about working with QantasLink has been the people. You have such a close group of people and everyone – the cabin crew, the pilots, the ground crew – works together for the customers. Coming to work really energises me and I’m excited to move on to the next challenge.

Taleah Ditz
Captain, Dash-8 Q300s and Q200s, QantasLink