Engineering a brighter future
Marlborough Mayor Nadine Taylor, Minister of Education Jan Tinetti, Te Pukenga Regional Director Mark Oldershaw, MP’s Rachel Boyack and Stuart Smith and Air NZ COO Alex Marren celebrate the signing of the Memorandum.
A new agreement between Te Pukenga, NMIT and Air New Zealand will hopefully help combat a worldwide shortage of aviation engineers.
The partnership opens new pathways for aspiring engineers training in Marlborough, and increased collaboration between NMIT and Air New Zealand at RNZAF Base Woodbourne and Marlborough Airport.
The signing was attended by Minister of Education Jan Tinetti, Nelson MP Rachel Boyack, Kaikoura MP Stuart Smith, Air New Zealand COO Alex Marren and Te Pukenga Regional Director Mark Oldershaw.
“We want regions with a strong education and training presence so that employers know they can get good staff with the right skills to do the jobs they need done”, said Minister Tinetti.
“Airline traffic is rapidly recovering post pandemic and engineers are in demand across the world. This makes a career in aviation engineering an attractive long-term choice.
“It’s critical to the success of our economy and country that training providers maintain a close connection with the needs of business.”
“This agreement deepens ongoing relationships we have with NMIT, and our commitment to Marlborough will only get stronger from today”, agrees Air New Zealand COO Alex Marren.
“This connection means we’ll be able to give students more access to learn and work on our current fleet of planes and the next generation”.
Marlborough’s Mayor Nadine Taylor was thrilled, speaking on Marlborough’s aviation heritage.
“The first New Zealand to Australia flight by Charles Kingsford Smith left from here, and Marlburians have been hooked by aviation ever since”.
“Today, the aviation industry employs 1000 Marlburians in 33 businesses, bringing $100 million into the economy yearly, and we all hope this agreement will open more opportunities for the entire sector of our economy.