Graduation!

Friday was CTC's event of the year - the pilot graduation 2014! All pilots who graduated this year were invited to attend, though unfortunately a lot of the guys and girls can't attend as a result of being in airliners at 36,000ft...

The first part of the day involved an open morning at Nursling, with opportunities to show our friends and family around the training centre and perhaps get the chance of having a go in the sims (it is amazing how many parents show up their pilot child when it comes to landing an A320 or B737...).

After this CTC had coaches take everyone to Dibden Manor for the graduation ceremony. Before this there was an opportunity for a catch up with coursemates over some champagne and lunch! The ceremony itself always involves a guest speaker from the aviation industry; this year was Willie Walsh, which was very exciting! After Rob Clarke's (Group Chief Executive Officer of CTC Aviation) speech, Willie took centre stage and gave a talk. He gave us an insight into his background and his own experiences through pilot training and how he progressed through the industry.
He was very funny and also extremely nice! Each pilot was then called one by one to go up on the stage to be presented with their graduation certificate and a commemorative ornament engraved with each persons name, CP and graduation date by Willie and Rob. At the end of the ceremony, there were group photos taken of all of us graduates and then some with the senior management of CTC and all of the airline representatives. This marked the end of the afternoon's proceedings!

Caught unawares - photos were being taken all over the place, naturally!!

The evening was the part we were all looking forward to, the famous black tie ball. This year it was hosted at Dibden also, in a big marquee that had been constructed for the event. There were drinks, a band, a DJ and a very nice meal. The senior staff were all there too and it was great for whole 'CTC community' to get together and have such a lovely night together celebrating the completion of our training and the beginning of our very exciting careers. Thank you CTC, it was great!

No party is complete without a photobooth!