Liz Gawthorpe soars skywards with aviation aspirations at Wellcamp
LIZ GAWTHORPE dreamt of joining the Australian Air Force when she left school.
The mother-of-three may not have ended up behind the controls of a plane but she now works in the very industry she longed to be part of for so many years.
Mrs Gawthorpe is a cargo terminal clerk at Wellcamp and her passion for planes has only grown.
As part of her operational job managing the airport’s cargo operations, she gets to step onto a massive Cathay Pacific Airways 747-8f plane every Tuesday.
“I absolutely love it,” Mrs Gawthorpe said.
“The plane, the work, the people… it’s all so exciting.”
When Mrs Gawthorpe and her husband relocated from their hometown of Lightning Ridge to Toowoomba about four years ago, they decided to buy a place just south west of where the airport now stands.
At the time, the airport’s now general manager Sara Hales was the community consultation manager and would often call upon the Gawthorpe family to discuss the project.
“We were actually really excited about living so close to the airport,” Mrs Gawthorpe said.
“In fact, when we bought our property we preferred the location over somewhere near road traffic.”
Mrs Gawthorpe was working at a pharmacy in Oakey, but an encounter with Ms Hales one day at work prompted her to ask if there were any career opportunities at the airport.
Before not too long she landed a job as part of Wellcamp Airport’s security team, where she worked for a year before being appointed a role within the business’ freight division.
“I work with a fantastic team and it’s a very diverse and exciting environment — there’s a lot of compliance when you are dealing with imported and exported goods and we work closely with the Department of Agriculture, the airport and Cathay Pacific Airways,” Mrs Gawthorpe said.
“I find I’m getting more and more questions from the community, local businesses and freight forwarders about our capabilities at the airport.
“For many businesses, it’s great to know that they can import directly through Wellcamp rather than having to truck their cargo via Brisbane.”
Mrs Gawthorpe explained a typical week in the Wellcamp Freight business involved freight processing on Monday and Tuesday as well as processing the flight, with the rest of the week dedicated to behind-the-scenes compliance.
“We work closely with the Department of Agriculture and Customs, who conduct quarantine inspection on imported goods prior to dispatch,” she said.
“As well as the various freight forwarding companies who use the cargo terminal and Menzies Aviation, who assist with cargo handling services.”
Despite the job involving some early mornings and late nights it’s hard to wipe the smile off her face when she’s talking all things Wellcamp.
“I have to pinch myself that my dream of working in aviation came true.”