Georgian College

22 GEORGIANVIEW SPRING 2022 AVIATION When Allison Couch was a high school student dreaming of a career in aviation, she never thought she'd also be part of a team saving someone's life. Just a few months ago, as a MEDEVAC pilot for Air Bravo, she flew a heart from Toronto to Ottawa for transplant surgery. "It was very satisfying and rewarding to do that but it's very different than what I used to do," she says. Prior to working for Air Bravo, Allison was flying a PC12 NG plane for corporate operator, Coywolf Aviation, based in Toronto. The Aviation Management alumna (class of 2012) comes by her love for planes naturally. Her father was an aircraft maintenance engineer and she grew up going to airshows with her parents and travelling the world. Currently, she's settled in Thunder Bay, working with Air Bravo and getting experience landing on short, gravel runways in the remote North where she is called on to deliver vaccines and transfer patients. It's a job that promises 100 hours of flying each month, which will help her gain the hours for her Airline Transport Pilot License requirements. "This is the hardest thing I've ever done," she says. "The transition to MEDEVAC pilot was so hard. It's something that challenges me every single day and I find that very rewarding." Allison has worked for a number of other companies in the aviation industry, including ORNGE and Skyservice Business Aviation. She moved to the Middle East to become a flight attendant for four-and-a-half years to save enough money to pay for flight school. At the same time, she obtained her Master's Degree in Aviation Management through Griffith University and a diploma in e sky's the limit | Allison is working on gaining the flying hours she needs to get her Airline Transport Pilot license. Aviation Security Management through Emirates Aviation College. She obtained her private pilot's license in 2014. She recently received the 2022 Women in Aviation International Achievement Award, and in 2021 was honoured by Wings magazine with a Top 40 under 40 award. Recipients are chosen based on leadership, innovation, achievement and community involvement. "I think Georgian College was my foundation for everything," says Allison. "I have a lot more knowledge than I ever would have because it was such a diverse aviation program. We touched on every single subject so it helped me in every aspect of my career."

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