Growing up in Shellharbour outside of Wollongong, Luca Taglieri liked tinkering with engines, riding motor bikes and hanging out in the garage with his car mechanic dad. As Luca grew older and started thinking about a career.
Luca was fascinated with aircraft. He played with Lego and other helicopters and flew model planes in the neighbour’s front yard. In researching career options, he came across an article about aviation maintenance opportunities.
“OK, this could work,” Luca said. And he hasn’t looked back.
After completing a two-year apprenticeship at a small aviation company, he learned about the apprenticeship and traineeship program at Sikorsky Australia, part of Lockheed Martin Australia. Luca applied online, interviewed at the company’s Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility in Nowra and was accepted into the program as an avionics technician.
Now living in the Shoalhaven, Luca has graduated from the four-year aircraft maintenance engineer apprenticeship program and works as a fully qualified tradesperson. In his specific role of Avionics Luca works on navigation systems, wiring, radios and other electronic equipment, primarily on the Royal Australian Navy’s MH-60R Seahawk helicopters.
Luca finds the work challenging and enjoys learning “how the aircraft operate, how they function and how we work on them.” He takes pride in supporting the Navy’s submarine hunting and anti-surface warfare missions.
An industry leader in rotary-wing aircraft support, Sikorsky Australia lives by the mantra Quality First, Safety Always. The company provides its customers with regulatory approved, on and off-site maintenance capabilities and logistics.
Now living in the Shoalhaven, Luca has graduated from the four-year aircraft maintenance engineer apprenticeship program and works as a fully qualified tradesperson.
In his specific role of Avionics Luca works on navigation systems, wiring, radios and other electronic equipment, primarily on the Royal Australian Navy’s MH-60R Seahawk helicopters.
Luca finds the work challenging and enjoys learning “how the aircraft operate, how they function and how we work on them.” He takes pride in supporting the Navy’s submarine hunting and anti-surface warfare missions.
An industry leader in rotary-wing aircraft support, Sikorsky Australia lives by the mantra Quality First, Safety Always. The company provides its customers with regulatory approved, on and off-site maintenance capabilities and logistics.
When he came to work for his first day, Luca discovered a new world. From the MRO shop floor’s organised layout to his co-workers’ work ethic, there was a professionalism and dedication he hadn’t experienced before.
“I still remember walking out on the mezzanine overlooking the hangar and taking a minute to process everything going on,” said Luca, who still loves working on motor bikes in his free time. “The sheer size and scope of the work done here is amazing.”
The experience, skill and commitment of his co-workers and their willingness to share their knowledge has been instrumental in Luca’s education. He credits co-workers like Matthew Bryce with taking him under their wings.
“It's the best workplace I've been in – very inclusive and keen to teach,” Luca said. “There are always opportunities to try new things. Everyone is highly trained in what they do, and they're good to listen to and learn from.”
Sikorsky Australia’s ethical culture focuses on performance excellence, teamwork and inclusion – qualities Luca noticed right away.
“It’s a standard you see as soon as you walk through the front door. You can almost feel and touch it,” Luca said. “We take a lot of pride in it…There’s a strong work ethic that goes into these roles down to the littlest thing. It’s all by the book, and you can tell when a finished product comes out at the end. It’s just miles above anything else.”
The Sikorsky Australia culture is rubbing off on Luca. He recently received the company’s Rising Star Award, given to employees who demonstrate Sikorsky Australia’s values and go above and beyond. It came as quite a surprise to Luca, who didn’t know the award even existed.
“I did some research on it, and it’s quite a big thing. Honestly, I was shocked. I was telling my family and they were all super surprised,” said Luca. “I have the award sitting on the TV at home. I look at it every day and it’s something I’m quite proud of.”