BA launches first London apprenticeships for 16 years

Mon, 10 Jan 2011

BA launches first London apprenticeships for 16 years

British Airways (BA) has revealed it will be launching two new apprenticeship schemes later this year to boost the number of skilled aircraft engineers in its workforce.

One of the new skills drives will help up to 90 people to gain qualifications in engineering that will be used to enhance BA’s aircraft engineering department. These extra skills are needed in advance of BA’s next generation fleet of aircraft, which are to be deployed over the next couple of years.

For the first programme, 90 apprentices will undertake a year-long academic course, followed by a two-year period when the students will learn at work through full-time roles at Heathrow Airport. They will gain work experience within several different airline engineering departments over the course of their apprenticeships and will graduate with Level 3 NVQ qualifications after the course is complete.

The second programme will offer qualifications and training in business administration skills, including logistics, materials handling and documentation. It will result in Level 2 NVQ qualifications after two years.

This will be the first time BA’s London facilities have run apprenticeship programmes in more than 16 years. The announcement follows a speech from business secretary Vince Cable, at the Farnborough Air Show, in which he encouraged young people to take training and jobs in the aviation industry.

The airline’s director of engineering, Gary Copeland, explained that introducing the apprenticeship programme will help the firm to recruit “leaders for tomorrow.”

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