My name is Ammar and I’m currently a Campus Ambassador for British Airways. I am heading into my final year at the University of Leeds studying Aviation Technology with Pilot Studies and Management BEng, and I have career aspirations to become a pilot for British Airways!
What do you currently do on your university course?
My course at the University of Leeds focuses on the aviation industry as a whole, right the way from engineering involving the design and function of aircraft, to the commercial aspect, looking at the economics and operations of aviation. I was very keen on finding a role within aviation that I could work over the summer after my first year. During the start of the academic year, I then saw the advertisement for the British Airways 2022 Future Leader’s Internship. Being surrounded by British Airways since birth due to my dad working for the company for 15 years naturally made this opportunity the perfect gateway into my aviation career. I then embarked on an intensive application process over the course of 6 months for the Future Leader’s internship, consisting of many interviews, aptitude tests and group exercises. I was fortunately successful for the role along with 7 other fellow interns, and I was then asked to be placed in an area I would most benefit from.
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How did you start working at British Airways?
From my knowledge and interest in aviation, I wanted to further deepen my understanding of the operations at BA and experience what I’d learnt in theory at university put into day-to-day practice. I was thus placed in Flight Operations and worked at the BA Waterside head office in London from June-August 2022.
My role involved analysing and studying internal communication processes between pilots and Flight Ops, with the aim of producing a plan to achieve effective communication. I also produced a new form of a monthly tech and training magazine titled ‘Flight Ops Features’ which was disseminated to pilots every month. During my internship, I attended Farnborough International Airshow 2022 with my cohort, to present a sustainable aviation proposal titled ‘Flush to Fly’ as winners of The Air League’s Innovators Global Challenge. I was also fortunate enough to shadow key areas of the business during my internship, including Engineering, maintenance in the hangars, Global Operations, the Crew Report Centre (CRC), a Flight Dispatcher, Electronic Flight Bags (EFBs) and spending a day in the simulators on a Boeing 787-8!
What do you do in your current role at British Airways?
Towards the end of my internship, I was offered the opportunity to become a Campus Ambassador for BA, which involved promoting the plethora of BA’s various graduate programmes, apprenticeships, placements, and internships available for students to join through career talks, presentations, podcasts, and other forms of media. After completing my internship, I still had 2 years of university remaining, and becoming a Campus Ambassador was an excellent way to promote and grow the BA family, sharing the excellent experience I’d had over the course of my summer.
I began the role with a career talk at the University of Leeds for the Aviation Society, promoting BA’s graduate programmes and placements for all the students. Since then, I have given career talks, presentations and attended many virtual calls to talk about my experiences and have also given advice to other students wanting to join BA. I am also a mentor on British Airways’ dedicated student website on Connectr called ‘Speedbird-Z’ where students can apply for work experience roles, complete learning modules about BA, and also message mentors on the website for advice and any questions they may have.
I am looking forward to the one year I have remaining as a Campus Ambassador for British Airways during my final year at the University of Leeds, and I hope to graduate and stay with BA, continuing my journey to the skies!
What advice would you pass on to aspiring aviation professionals?
Here are 3 tips I would share with aspiring aviation professionals:
• Keep asking and learning! One of the things I did most during my internship was ask as many questions as possible to learn more and gain a deeper understanding of any areas I shadowed. The more knowledge you are inspired with, the more you can then share and inspire others with.
• Don’t be afraid to connect with others! The more people you know in aviation the better! Whether it be in BA or beyond, getting yourself out there is the best way to establish yourself and build those connections by introducing yourself to like-minded professionals.
• Adaptive to change! Aviation is an extremely fast-paced, dynamic environment, and keeping an open mind to move with the industry is crucial.
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