Simon Evans Email & Phone Number

I have been flying commercially for over 15 years which includes 10 years’ experience on the Boeing 737- 800. I have attained over 8500 hours total flying time through my career. By way of background, I have completed an aircraft engineering apprenticeship with Safe Air in Blenheim, now known as Airbus. This involved positions in New Zealand, Australia and the United States of America working on a variety of military and heavy civil aircraft. The majority of my apprenticeship, I worked on helicopters and medium size jets. During this time, I won the Sir Geoffrey Roberts Award from the Royal Aeronautical Society. I have had experience in the agricultural aviation sector through my parents top dressing business. This included all aspects of a fixed wing topdressing business including the introduction of a new agricultural aircraft into New Zealand. I am in the process of completing my licence aircraft maintenance engineer exams which I anticipate will be completed in 2021. I have been flying commercially for over 15 years which includes skydiving, light twin single pilot IFR, heavy turbo prop and over 10 years’ experience on the Boeing 737- 800. I have attained through this period over 2200 hours as a Captain on the Boeing 737 with 8500 hours total flying time. I was employed by Virgin Australia until the recent closure of the New Zealand operations due to the Covid-19 pandemic. My command role involved the international operations between New Zealand, Australia and the South West Pacific. It also included regular flights into Queenstown.I pride myself in keeping a professional manner and building strong relationships. I believe that I could demonstrate the leadership required for a combined pilot and aircraft engineer role. Through my Captain role, I have often dealt with challenging and emotionally difficult situations or required to problem solve in a stressful situation. I am used to working in the regulatory environment of aviation with safety being paramount to everything, along with writing the required compliance reports. I have been involved in the aviation industry my whole life and a passionate aviation enthusiast.