Graduates, Business Placements & Interns
Our graduate programmes, business placements and summer internships offer a chance to join a dynamic and diverse team that’s playing a lead role in the future of flying.
Whatever you’re studying, we’ll have a programme that’s right for you. To get your career off to a flying start, you’ll need to bring passion, and have the desire to make a difference.
You can view the variety of opportunities we have available below.
Graduate Schemes
Summer Internship
If you’re a university student who is passionate to learn more about the aviation industry, a 10-week summer internship is a great way to start. You can come from any degree discipline to join us.
Future Leader Business Placements
Our 11-month business placements are designed to help ambitious students studying a sandwich degree develop into business professionals. Placements take place at both London Heathrow or in Barry, Cardiff.
Commercial Business
The perfect programme to showcase your entrepreneurial spirit. You could be on the road building relationships with corporate customers, showcasing new aircraft in locations overseas, strategising how to make a route profitable, devising digital marketing campaigns or launching new sustainability features on ba.com.
Commercial Analytics
Our graduates interpret complex commercial data and identify revenue generating opportunities. You’ll use data to provide senior leaders with the necessary metrics and insights they need to make decisions to improve revenue and market share, understanding how our customers pay for our products and influencing the digital customer experience.
Data Science
If you’re curious and have a passion for data, our Data Science scheme is for you. Our graduates will identify trends and patterns from data, use recommendations, tools and models to drive key business decisions to impact profitability, sustainability and customer satisfaction across the entire airline.
Finance
Our graduates could be influencing investment decisions across our onboard products, analysing network growth opportunities, or negotiating with our suppliers to ensure cost competitiveness. We’ll also sponsor and support you to gain a professional finance qualification.
Future Leaders
Our three-year programme is focused on sharpening your strategic thinking. You’ll manage stakeholders, lead projects, and deliver high-quality work to deadlines. This scheme also provides the opportunity to gain professional qualifications.
Operations Planning
This is the part of our airline that’s responsible for putting the right people, in the right roles, at the best possible time and cost. With three placements across the two-year scheme, you’ll learn how to make data-driven decisions to help British Airways meet its changing needs.
Engineering Technical
If you come from an Aeronautical or Mechanical Engineering discipline, you can join our Technical programme, where you will put your expertise into practice and may be part of influencing the roll out of our new business class seats, inspecting a new aircraft after delivery or being involved in our new cabin design.
Engineering Planning & Supply Chain
Strategic planning underpins our Planning & Supply Chain programme, enabling the engineering function tick. You could be helping to decide which aircraft enter and leave the business, assisting with the maintenance schedule for our long and short-haul fleets and managing huge volumes of suppliers for a smooth operation.
Why British Airways?
Discounted travel
Heavily discounted air travel for yourself, friends and family accompanied with a generous annual leave entitlement or 26 days to turn your bucket list into reality.
Champion Sustainability
Play a part in driving our sustainability agenda through fundraising for charity partners, volunteering for charities or championing our colleague diversity networks.
Become an ambassador
Access our Graduate and Apprentice Networks to learn from current and former colleagues on our schemes, and volunteer to inspire the next generation to consider an aviation career.
Speedbird-Z
Like what you see? Explore more of the world of aviation by registering to our dedicated student website, Speedbird-Z.
This one-stop-shop gives you the opportunity to directly chat online with our colleagues, register for upcoming events we are running or attending, and complete learning modules to build your confidence in employability, as well as learn more about British Airways.
Learn more
Our programmes
Our graduate programmes, business placements and summer internships offer a chance to join a dynamic and diverse team that’s playing a lead role in the future of flying. View our programmes below to find the right route for you.
While we're not hiring right now, you can register with Speedbird-Z above to chat online with our colleagues and complete learning modules to enhance your skills. You can also join our talent pool at the bottom of this page so we can contact you when applications open.
Summer Internships
Duration: 10-Weeks
Location: London Heathrow
Requirement: First or second year student when completing the internship. Minimum predicted 2:2 degree, or equivalent in any subject.
Salary: £22,000 Pro Rata
Applications: Opening 4th November 2024
About the scheme:
It may only last the summer, but we’ll pack plenty in. Take on responsibility in one of a variety of placements in our head office departments and beyond. You’ll complete projects, business as usual tasks and activities that make a real difference to our business, all while working alongside knowledgeable colleagues who’ll guide and support you. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to build your network with the Graduate community and learn about other areas of the airline too. We’ve always been interested in different perspectives and viewpoints. Fresh thinking and new ideas. So we encourage applicants from any degree discipline.
The internship is tailored to every individual, based on your career ambitions, strengths, areas of development and where we have exciting projects for you to get your teeth stuck into.
Future Leader Business Placements
Duration: 11-Months
Location: London Heathrow
Requirements: Second-year student for third-year Industrial Placement, sandwich degree.
Salary: £22,000 Pro Rata
Applications: Opening 4th November 2024
About the scheme:
Over the course of this 11-month placement, you’ll develop an enviable set of skills through exposure to different business areas across the airline, in our head office and beyond, and involvement on various significant projects. We’re open to your fresh ideas and different perspectives. You’ll be asked to challenge our current thinking and look for ways to improve on existing processes – you could genuinely make us work faster, and smarter.
Your placement will refine your business skills and commercial thinking and offer you a chance to impact our business performance. Which live projects you work on is very much up to your interests, and the skills you bring with you.
You’ll have the chance to work with colleagues at all levels, from recent graduates to senior leaders. This placement is all about making things happen through working with others. At the same time, you’ll get to build networks with our graduate communities.
Commercial Business
Duration: 3 Years
Location: London Heathrow
Requirements: Minimum 2:2 degree or equivalent, in any subject (either achieved or expected).
Salary: £33,000
Applications: Opening 4th November 2024
About the scheme:
Over 3 years, you’ll complete 3 very different and unique roles across our Commercial departments with the aim of developing you to become a commercial expert and leader of the future.
You’ll take on a series of 12-month placements that will challenge and inspire you and give you exposure to every facet of our global commercial business, often with some international travel along the way. You may be placed in our Revenue Management team understanding how an airline drives revenue and makes profit where you will be personally owning decisions on how we price our products, decide on their availability and how we exploit and develop ancillary sales for a specific region in the world; You may be in our Digital Product and experience team where you will not only get expertise in agile, scrum and product management, but you will be delivering products and features on our website ba.com and the BA app that drive customer value; or you could be placed in our Sales, Retail & Customer Relationship Management, Commercial Strategy or Distribution and Payments teams.
Commercial Analytics
Duration: 2 Years
Location: London Heathrow
Requirements: Minimum 2:2 degree or equivalent, in any subject but ideally involving numbers and analysis (either achieved or expected).
Salary: £33,000
Applications: Opening 4th November 2024
About the scheme:
You’ll be responsible for change that you'll be able to see in our airports, with our aircraft and to when and where we fly. Or with our marketing communications, on our customer website, in our supplier and partner relationships and in our passenger numbers. Ultimately, in the exemplary customer experience, you help us to deliver. The placements you may experience in our area include Commercial Analytics where you’ll be working hand in hand with our front-line Global Sales team, so we can improve revenue and market share and understanding how we get our products in front of our customers and how our customers pay for them; or our Network Analytics team where you’ll plan our network, schedules, fleet, airport slot portfolio and more.
Data Science
Duration: 2 Years
Location: London Heathrow
Requirements: Minimum 2:2 degree or equivalent, in a subject with significant Numerical / Data Science / Advanced Analytics / Applied Statistics / Computer Science content (either achieved or expected), and a minimum of grade B at A-Level Maths or equivalent.
Salary: £33,000
Applications: Opening 4th November 2024
About the scheme:
Airlines are complex, everchanging and data rich, which means that the industry provides one of the most varied and interesting places for data and analytics professionals to work. Problems like determining the optimal mix of aircraft to buy for the next 20 years, or how to improve overbooking set up, requires a creative approach identifying and exploiting value from current and new data sources, applying advanced analytical techniques and visualisations. You will provide the analytics, recommendations, tools and models to input into key business projects which cover all aspects of the airline. You’ll have a big impact on the profitability, sustainability and customer satisfaction of our company by increasing revenue, reducing costs, helping to manage risks and optimising our customer experience.
Finance
Duration: 3 Years
Location: London Heathrow
Requirements: Minimum 2:2 degree or equivalent, in any subject (either achieved or expected).
Salary: £33,000
Applications: Opening 4th November 2024
About the scheme:
You’ll make the most of your three years via three rotating placements, experiencing different ideas and projects across the business – all while building your network along the way and business partnering critical areas of the British Airways business. You could be influencing investment decisions on our onboard products, analysing commercial decisions on network growth opportunities, or negotiating with our vast supplier network to maintain cost competitiveness. We have influential Finance teams sitting in every department. You’ll quickly become an invaluable asset within any team, experiencing the breadth and depth of opportunities that only one of the world's biggest and best-known airlines can provide. We’ll also sponsor and support you to gain your preferred professional finance qualification – CIMA, ACCA or ACA (ICAEW)
Future Leaders
Duration: 3 Years
Location: London Heathrow
Requirements: Minimum 2:2 degree or equivalent, in any subject (either achieved or expected).
Salary: £33,000
Applications: Opening 4th November 2024
About the scheme:
Through a series of placements, you will get stuck in to the day-to-day tasks of running our business, as well as contributing to our long-term strategic vision and success. This is a hands-on programme in which you'll step out of your comfort zone, constructively challenge others and make your ideas reality. Imagine leading a group of 75 cabin crew, or escorting the media on overseas trips as a PR Manager. How would it sound to run the ground staff at Heathrow? How about developing sales strategies for exciting new markets, or even influencing what our fleet should look like in 20 years’ time?
The projects will give you big-picture understanding and foresight of what it takes to begin introducing innovations and leading positive change – so that we deliver our strategic vision and customer promise.
Operations Planning
Duration: 2 Years
Location: London Heathrow
Requirements: Minimum 2:2 degree or equivalent, in a discipline involving mechanical or aeronautical engineering (either achieved or expected).
Salary: £33,000
Applications: Opening 4th November 2024
About the scheme:
Across the programme you will have the opportunity to experience different aspects of the planning and resource functions for our global airline. You will work in a directorate that has a direct impact on the British Airways operation. You will learn and apply new skills in Workforce planning and deployment, Post operational analysis, Stakeholder relationship management, People and change management and Continuous improvement. These placements will develop your ability to work with a range of people from different business areas, using a variety of technologies, methods, and measures to meet changing business needs.
Engineering Technical
Duration: 2 Years
Location: London Heathrow
Requirements: Minimum 2:2 degree or equivalent, in a discipline involving mechanical or aeronautical engineering (either achieved or expected).
Salary: £35,000
Applications: Opening 4th November 2024
About the scheme:
Being part of our technical team in engineering means one thing: you’ll be at the heart of ensuring our aircraft are safe and reliable. With a fleet of over 250 aircraft, you’ll find yourself tackling a mix of new and old technology on our aircraft. You could be influencing the roll out of our new business class seats; inspecting a new aircraft after delivery; or being part of our largest cabin design for the new Boeing 777-X. You will apply your technical knowledge to make a tangible impact on the airline as your recommendations will drive key business decisions and your projects will deliver reliable aircraft that is leading edge to keep our aircraft flying for the longest timespan.
Engineering Planning & Supply Chain
Duration: 3 Years
Location: London Heathrow
Requirements: Minimum 2:2 degree or equivalent, in any subject (either achieved or expected).
Salary: £35,000
Applications: Opening 4th November 2024
About the scheme:
Through a series of placements, you’ll get under the skin of the strategic planning that makes our engineering function tick. With a large fleet of over 250 aircraft, you’ll have a breadth of exposure to our incredible operation. A big challenge of the role is managing the huge volumes of suppliers we work with to ensure we have the right parts in the right place at the right time, anywhere in the world enabling the smooth running of our operation. You could be organising the maintenance schedules for both our short haul and long haul aircraft; developing the long term strategy of maintenance considering efficiency, cost, time and quality of how we do things; or delivering projects around which aircraft we are entering and exiting in the business.
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Apprentices Our full-time apprenticeships have been designed to give you the best possible start to your career in one of the most exciting industries you can work in. -
Work Experience & School Programmes It doesn’t matter what your background is, or where you come from. It’s where you’re going that we care about.