Today, she is a Senior Communication Navigation Surveillance (CNS) technician for Airways New Zealand, based in Auckland.
When Arieta was in high school, her cousin got a scholarship to train as an aircraft engineer with Air New Zealand, which further inspired her to join the industry. She initially planned to follow her cousin’s footsteps, but the avionics course at university didn’t start until mid-year.
“I couldn’t wait to start studying, so I was advised that I could complete an electronics engineering diploma and then cross-credit to avionics.”
Arieta ended up finding electronics so interesting that she started to forget about the avionics course. After completing the electronics diploma, she did her one-year industrial attachments with Fiji Airports, in the telecommunication department.
“That’s where my interest lies and I didn’t even know that department existed in aviation before then. By that time, my interest had gone up another level and I had decided not to go back to do the aircraft engineering course – so that’s how it all started.”
The air navigation system is fascinating, she says. “The communications and surveillance side of it is really interesting too, in terms of how our air traffic controllers communicate with the pilots and being able to locate or coordinate the positions of aircrafts within the New Zealand airspace.”
Arieta graduated with her Diploma in Electronics engineering and worked in electronics outside of aviation for a while to gain some more experience. She then joined Fiji Airports in 2016 as an Aeronautical Technical Officer, where she worked for three years before moving to New Zealand in 2019 and joined Airways New Zealand, where she is now in her fifth year.
With a total of eight years in aviation, she says family has been her biggest inspiration and motivation on her career journey. “My cousin is now an aircraft engineer with Jetstar and my sister also started her career with a trade certificate in electronics, but I carried on with a diploma.
“At home in Fiji, we have some barriers holding us back, especially females working in male-dominated fields. But I’m so thankful that I have supportive families who have kept me going forward to achieve my goals and dreams.”
There are many pathways into the aviation industry, she says. “If you have a dream, go for it – my path got diverted into electronic engineering, but I still ended up in the aviation industry.
“I learn something new every day in this role – and if it’s something my colleagues don’t know then I will share the knowledge with them. In our department based here in Auckland, have a diverse culture, but we only have three women, from Taiwan, India, and myself from Fiji.
“I really enjoy working in a male dominated field. It’s quite challenging because I want to prove to them that I can do this – if they can do it, I can do it.”
