Europe’s fifth largest airline, easyJet has just launched the first ever cabin crew apprenticeship scheme which will see 25 apprentices go through an intensive training programme at easyJet’s global training academy at London’s Gatwick Airport. The 12-month course will end with the apprentices becoming fully fledged members of cabin crew.
That, then, sounds like quite a long training programme – especially for a budget airline which only operates the Airbus A320 aircraft family with just one class of travel. Typically, many full-service airlines have been able to reduce their ab initio training courses down to between 4-5 weeks. Even premium carriers like Singapore Airlines only have a 7-week training programme for new crew.
However, an apprenticeship scheme is very different. According to the United Kingdom government agency which sets the standards for such programme’s, apprenticeships can take between 1-5 years and are designed for school leavers as young as 16-years old who might not otherwise have the education to walk into a job or have the desire to continue higher education.
In that context, easyJet has introduced a really innovative scheme that will open up the opportunity to become cabin crew for eager candidates who would otherwise have been excluded under traditional recruitment schemes.
The first 25 easyJet apprenticeships will complete the normal cabin crew training programme and then receive further on the job training and development – including regular progress checks with a dedicated coach.
“We are very pleased to offer this new cabin crew apprenticeship. It will give the recruits the opportunity to earn an industry recognised qualification, as well as gain their easyJet cabin crew wings,” explained easyJet’s director of cabin services, Tina Milton.
“We hope it will attract people who want to start a career in aviation, by learning how they can help maintain the highest safety standards and offer the best customer service.”
Last year, easyJet carried 74.5 million passengers according to figures from Airmundo and while competition is fierce amongst low-cost carriers in the region, those figures will no doubt rise even further in the years ahead. In fact, only days ago, Airbus predicted that the world’s passenger would more than double in the next 20-years to meet the demand of travellers.
easyJet says it hopes the apprenticeship scheme will encourage the next generation of young people to pursue a career in the burgeoning aviation industry.
Eligible young people who are interested can register their interest for future apprenticeship opportunities by emailing Talented@easyjet.com. Further information about apprenticeships can be found on the UK government’s official website here.
