During the recent British Business and General Aviation Association (BBGA) annual conference, the association urged aviation companies to ‘say yes’ to requests for work experience placements to bring the next generation into the industry outside of commercial aviation.
Gama Aviation’s Head of Delivery Paul Cremer pointed out that the Business aviation industry has been around a lot longer than many airlines, but young people coming into the industry still focus on the larger commercial companies saying “Youngsters think more about commercial airlines than business aviation, yet we offer so much more – Air Ambulance, Special Mission, Aircraft Management and Charter,”
The danger is that people will be “aged out” of the industry, particularly in engineering, where two-thirds of engineers globally were already aged 45-55 in the year 2000.
The merits of apprenticeships were also highlighted at the conference as a way of growing the next generation of talent across the business and general aviation industry with jobs ranging from airfield operations, engineering and Fixed Base Operator (FBO) roles.
Bombardier has been taking on 15 engineering students a year at its London Biggin Hill UK facility for the past four years and has also added a ‘retraining’ programme for individuals with hand skills and mechanical knowledge to help fill skill gaps.
It also has a military programme to help 10 veterans transition into business aviation.
Andrew Middleton, CEO of aviation recruiting firm Zenon, also said there was strong demand for commercial and sales roles across the business aviation market.
That’s why the BBGA encourages all its members to ‘say yes’ to a school work experience request, adding that even just one week can make a difference.
