Sheffield travel: "After serving in Afghanistan, I finally have a chance to follow my dream of being a pilot"

An Afghanistan veteran from Sheffield, who was initially unable to pursue aviation as a career due to finances, has been given a second chance at his dream.

Kristian Newton, from Stocksbridge, was accepted into the military in 2009 and deployed to a number of locations before joining a UK Special Forces specialist maritime unit.

He said: "Unfortunately, after five years of working on boats the shock and vibrations meant I developed a neck injury and was medically discharged. After leaving I rehabilitated and realised this could be my chance to follow my aviation dream.

"I remember every time I saw a pilot at the airport when we went on holiday, I used to freeze and be completely in awe of them. I used to sit with my grandad for hours and read things about travelling. I was just completely fascinated by it all.

"My mum was a hairdresser and dad was a builder, so I knew I didn’t have the financial backing to pursue aviation as a career, so I made the decision to join the Royal Marines instead."

Following his years in the Royal Marines, Kris started training to get his Private Pilot’s Licence, and was about two thirds of the way through when COVID hit and he had to stop.

He was working in the construction industry when he heard about TUI’s MPL (Multi-crew Pilot Licence) scheme, which trains applicants to become commercial pilots with no upfront costs or qualifications required. 

Kris said: "I remember I poured my heart out onto paper in my first cover letter. I really thought, 'this is the last roll of the dice I’ll have to get into aviation'. I wanted it so badly, I put my heart and soul into it, and clearly it worked."

With help throughout the application process from the charity Wings for Warriors, Kris passed, and was selected from a pool of 6,700 applicants.

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"Honestly, if I won the lottery tomorrow, I would still be on this scheme. I love it that much. This really is my dream,"he said. 

"I can’t quite believe I’m going to be doing something every single day that puts such a big smile on my face. I’m sure some mornings I won’t love the 3am wake up call, but I know what I’m in for, and I know that it will never feel like work to me."

Kris will be qualified by March 2025, and will become a pilot for TUI.