Aerospace

BA first UK airline to offer paid internships

Posted 28 October 2019

From summer 2020 British Airways will become the first UK airline to offer a paid internship programme to encourage more young people from a range of backgrounds to experience the aviation industry and develop sought-after workplace skills that will ensure they stand out in the ever-competitive graduate market.

Courtesy British Airways

The airline is offering 10 places across two three-month internship programmes; A Future Leaders Internship, offering real responsibility in areas such as sales strategy and customer service innovation, and a Data Science and Analytics Internship, giving applicants an insight into how British Airways is using data to transform its business.

Data science and analytics interns will be tasked with producing actionable insights and strategic forecasts for the business, from using machine learning models to anticipate opportunities for maintenance to be completed ahead of schedule to identifying how airport teams can get planes away even quicker, so customers arrive on time, every time. The complexity of the airline business means that, for analytics professionals, it is one of the most varied and interesting places they can apply their skills.

Hazel Cochrane, British Airways’ Principal Analytics Consultant, said: “British Airways has unparalleled size, scale and ambition and data scientists at the airline have real influence; our insights are relied upon for delivering the quality customer experiences the airline prides itself on, so it’s a hugely rewarding role. We use the most advanced analytical techniques and interns will be equipped to tackle complex challenges right from day one.”

Internships are just one of many routes into the airline, with work experience, award-winning apprenticeship opportunities and business placements all on offer and British Airways’ popular graduate scheme is still open for applications from the brightest talent.