airport operation careers

[kilobravo]

Hi all.

I hold a PPL and want to start a career in aviation/airport operations. I am 35 and doing a career turnaround. I do not know where to begin looking for training in this field. I live in Ireland and the one course on offer has just been pulled due to lack of interest. Are there other courses I can do, in the UK and by correspondence maybe? Any info would be REALLY and GREATLY appreciated. Also is there room to move up in this end of the industry to other specialised sectors of flight operations? Thanks in advance for any help you may give.

[TheOddOne]

KiloBravo,


Many of us who grub about outside on the airfield started as security guards or similar, as a way of getting in to the airport and made our way from there. Certainly that's where we recruit from. We do all our own training (6 week theoretical course, exam, then 2-6 months shadowing before being let loose on your own), but then we're a large airport operator so we've got the resources. We also offer places on some of our short modules for people form smaller airports. People who already have the City & Guilds Aviation Studies and optionally the City & Guilds Ops & Flight Despatch are at a distinct advantage during our recruitment. You might also look out for the Edexcel Btec in Aviation Studies. There might be colleges that still offer the City & Guilds by distance learning. I found all these an excellent grounding for the CPL exams as well. As a PPL you might find you already know lots of the basics, but the Btec will give an insight into larger aircraft ops. I'm afraid I don't know if any of this is available in Ireland - try searching for these courses on the net. 'Distance learning' seems to be a modern way of saying correspondence course.

Anyhow, best of luck. Those of us who work on the airfield tend to find it's a pretty good life (pushing snow about at 0300 occasionally notwithstanding!!!)

The Odd One

[kilobravo]

Thanks a lot for that info. TheOddOne.
I'll get on to it straight away. After working in an office for the past 10 yrs or so, shovelling snow at 3am sounds like fun. It's got to be aviation and besides I love the smell of Jet A1. Cheers.

[templar]

Howdy,

If you want some info chap then email me if ya want...I work in Flt.Ops in SNN... [email protected]


Cheers

[bigbadcol]

im a dispatcher at EGLL, done a c and g ops and dispatch cse and that was what secured me the job, sent pvt msg if you want more info.

[bigbadcol]

If any body wants info on the c and g ops and dispatch cse and exams then send me a pvt msg and il send you a contact number for me.

[DUBXH]

kilobravo

I hope your not saying that the FOO DIT Bolton Street course has been pulled as that would be a shame.... Educational course ! If it is then let me know and I can try put you in touch with one of the main men of the course who could maybe organise some private tuition for a nominal fee??

With reference to a job in DUB it's not unusual for people with absolutely NO aviation experience to be hired as "gate dispatchers" by some handling agents for the summer period.... from then on pending your preformance and the amount of vacant positions you may aqquire a full time position...... One praticular handling agent doesnt make it very convinient for staff to transfer internally to another Department forcing staff to break their service and rejoin which could be a good thing for yourself although at this time of year jobs are rare.... Always worth a try though....

PS a course is a great thing and can teach you an awful lot but there is nothing quite like working your way up and being internally trained with real situations on live flights..... If you are keen it will show and you will move up the ladder quickly enough....

Best of luck