Carla Ebers’ career in rail is on track, after a flying start working for British Airways.
In February 2020, Carla arrived in Australia on a two-month holiday to spend time with her boyfriend. A month later, the outbreak of COVID-19 brought the world to a standstill.
It left Carla, a customer service manager with British Airways grounded indefinitely under a government furlough scheme. Six months later, she decided to take a redundancy after a decade with the national British carrier so she could stay in Australia.
A year after she first arrived, she was granted permission to work but it would be another three months before she began working for Pacific National as an operations supervisor at Mudgee. “There are many similarities between rail and aviation, so it was a natural shift and a new challenge for me,” she says.
“The best way I can describe the experience is that it’s like learning a new language. As a manager at the airline, it was easy to transfer my leadership skills across and am always looking at ways I can best support the Mudgee team.”
At the end of the day, safety is paramount. In such a heavy industry, safety is number one and we have to keep it simple and safe.
The fast-paced nature of her work, as well as the variety of tasks Carla performs is what she says is best about working at Pacific National. “I enjoy the challenges I face each day; I am always learning something new most days and working with a great team of people. The rail industry is huge with many opportunities to move into different roles throughout the business.”
Carla feels Pacific National embodies values, which align with her own. “Many of the brand behaviours from the airline industry are in line with Pacific Nationals values and I hope each day I can continue to contribute to improving the service that we deliver to our customers in a safe and punctual manner. “
On her future, Carla says, “I am not sure where the rail industry will take me as there are so many opportunities. I like a challenge, so I may eventually complete my training to become a fully qualified train driver.
For now, Mudgee is my home, and I am looking forward to supporting my Operations Manager and helping the Mudgee Depot to grow and thrive.”