Working in aviation, whether we are referring to working for an airline or working for an airport means you’ll be working as part of a huge, varied team. This team has a variety of roles requiring different skills. You could choose to pursue a customer service role such as becoming a flight attendant, baggage handler or airline ticket agent. Maybe you are more suited for a technical role such as a pilot, navigator, mechanic, or engineer. Or perhaps your skills lie in accounting, catering, finance, law or airport management. From entry-level to highly experienced, all employees work together to ensure customers get safely to their destinations. The combination of skills required and the fact that every major city in the world has an airport, means that jobs for airlines and airports are accessible to those looking to pursue their career in aviation. But what attracts candidates to these roles in the first place?
Employees working for an airline (including those that don’t fly as part of their job, are generally offered discounted flights, making travelling to those sought-after destinations, much more feasible for them. Generally, employees can travel for free or at a greatly reduced price on the airline they work for (space permitting). The airline Virgin Atlantic for example, offers a ‘Staff Travel’ scheme where full time employees are entitled to up to seven concessionary standby flights a year to any of their destinations (employees just pay the taxes on the flights). Some airlines even have agreements with each other offering their employees the chance to purchase discounted tickets on their airline flights as well.
The obvious answer here is the travel opportunities a job in aviation can offer. Whilst working for an airline can be very demanding, it’s hard to find a better industry for travel opportunities. Some of the jobs themselves require extensive travel; pilots and flight attendants for example could visit as many as ten cities on several different continents in one five day shift! And the travel opportunities are there for when you’re off the clock too.
In such a dynamic, fast paced industry, a job in the aviation industry means that you’re part of a bigger picture, helping to keep things moving and keeping up with the speed at which things happen. Working for an airline or airport then, doesn’t seem to be a boring, stagnant job but one that offers variety on a daily basis, not least with the people you’ll meet. This is another big reason why candidates are drawn to working for an airline or airport because it gives them the opportunity to meet new people on a daily basis. Those that work in airports enjoy the chance to meet interesting people and ‘people watch’ with no two days being the same in terms of who comes through the airport. Flight attendants also often state that they chose their job because of the variety of interesting people it enables them to meet.
Airlines and airports also recognise how important it is that their employees enjoy life outside of work too to ensure their happiness at work. Going back to Virgin Atlantic for example, they offer their employees deals on holidays through Virgin Holidays, stretching the benefits to staff beyond simply the flight. And it doesn’t stop there, with some airlines, flight crew qualify for discounts on rental cars and hotels and even some travel attractions while on holiday. These lifestyle benefits relate to home life as well with airlines and airports recognising that their employees have family commitments and offering them access to childcare vouchers, family leave, discounts in highstreet shops and subsidised nursery places. They also ensure that their health is looked after as their employees are entitled to join their health cash plan at a discounted rate. And pension schemes are key too as airlines and airports know that their employees will also need to plan for the future and a good pension scheme can be one of the benefits that make an employee become a long-term one.
While airport jobs generally receive less travel opportunities, they too are often well paid jobs with excellent benefits. The Manchester Airport Group (MAG) for example, proudly displays their employee benefits on their website. These benefits span across all areas of an employee’s life, showing that they are keen to offer their employees a complete package of benefits. There are some benefits that are specific to working at their airports such as 50% off holiday airport parking and others that focus on how employees get to work such as their cycle to work scheme and subsidised rail travel. Clearly, being part of a large company such as an airline or airport, means you’ll have access to enhancements tailored to employees of that airport or airline which you may not get at others.
