Our Operations and Engineering teams at Heathrow have a world-class reputation for maintaining a fleet of over 300 aircraft, managing 2,000 aircraft turnarounds and delivering to customers more than 250,000 bags a week. Always putting the customer at the heart of everything we do, you’ll find every day is different, the work is interesting and time-pressured, and our teams are second to none.
There are a number of opportunities for work experience with Heathrow Operations and Engineering, which are outlined below.
Ground Operations
Vibrant and dynamic, Heathrow Airport is our operational home and recognised as one of the world’s busiest airline hubs. Ground Operations is at the heart of it all. Every week, our teams manage over 2,000 aircraft turn rounds and deliver more than 250,000 bags using a wide range of facilities and equipment.
During this placement, you’ll delve behind the scenes of airport operations and enjoy an introduction to a range of roles such as a Turnaround Coordinator. You’ll develop resilience and discover how we have real passion and pride for delivering customer-focused service, with safety-minded people working inside and out and on shifts.
Fleet Support Unit
Fleet Support Unit is equipped to maintain B767 and Airbus 319/320/321 aircraft, both in minor and casualty tasks, and also has the capability to take on most heavy maintenance tasks and structural repairs. We recover aircraft and quickly move those that have been damaged or involved in incidents so that normal airport operations can resume as soon as possible.
This placement offers a great opportunity to shadow engineers in the hangar and see first-hand how important our daily operations are. Repairs are unplanned, so you’ll be exposed to a variety of daily activities and help support the team to ensure the aircraft are fit to fly on time.
Long-haul Casualty
Our Long-haul Casualty teams provide operational maintenance support for the Airbus A380, Boeing 787, 777 and 747 aircraft types, which we have invested heavily in. There’s a huge range of activities and tasks involved – from engine changes, structural repairs, component changes and modifications to servicing and entry into service inputs. We pride ourselves on safety, quality and delivery, and everything is geared to providing a fully serviceable fleet of aircraft to support our worldwide operation.
Imagine shadowing engineers in both hangar facilities and base-ramp areas while they maintain our state-of-the-art aircraft fleet. On any given day, you could walk into an engine change, a structural repair, a trouble-shooting procedure or maintenance clear-up – in fact, just about any maintenance activity applicable to the aircraft type.
Fleet Support Facility
Engineers in our Fleet Support Facility (FSF) workshop provide repair and overhaul capability to support the fleet of British Airways aircraft. Capability ranges include aerofoils, engine thrust reverses, engine cowls, radomes, on-wing composites, on-wing metal and hydraulic pipe repair. Don’t worry if these are all new terms to you, they’ll soon become familiar – or better still, get ahead of the game by Googling them before you join us!
FSF also includes Non-Destructive Testing. This department is responsible for specialist aircraft inspections using techniques which include x-ray, ultrasonic, eddy current and thermographic inspection (get Googling again). There’s also a specialist process section in our workshops responsible for welding, anodising, painting and plating.
Your placement will see you shadowing engineers in the workshop and on-wing (in a hangar). You’ll discover a dynamic working environment and learn from dedicated aviation experts on a variety of daily tasks, whether this is repairing a flying control surface, or assisting with complex aircraft inspections. And, you’ll get to see first-hand how FSF contributes towards our excellent safety record.
Continuing Airworthiness Management Organisation
We are a modern airline for modern Britain. Our Continuing Airworthiness Management Organisation is responsible for the technical reliability, airworthiness and maintenance oversight of the British Airways’ fleet.
During this placement, you’ll shadow our airworthiness and quality engineers who are proud of the contribution they make to British Airways. You’ll experience first-hand how the different areas within Engineering work by spending quality time in both the engine workshop and the cabin area, among other hangar areas. You’ll get to see how important our daily operations are. But we work as one team, so you’ll also understand how we connect with other areas and departments across the business and how airworthiness oversight of the British Airways fleet is managed.
Operational Maintenance
Operational Maintenance sustains us as a high-performing organisation that empowers our people to deliver a safe operation to British Airways, our customers and colleagues.
On this placement, you’ll shadow engineers at Terminal 3 or 5 working on short-haul and customer aircraft. In our dynamic environment, you’ll learn from dedicated aviation experts as you take on a variety of daily tasks, whether this is towing a customer aircraft, checking the aircraft for any defects or assisting with complex aircraft inspections. As well as getting to grips with how we manage third-party customers, you’ll see how our Operational Maintenance team contributes towards our excellent safety record.
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