Aircraft Maintenance Apprentice Review

Following Manual procedures to carry out tasks such as component removal and installation like: wheel changes, engine changes. Servicing the engines: filter changes, blade removals, oil top ups. Working in the Galleys and on the IFE. Not to mention the towing of the Aircraft to and from the Hangars and doing engine runs.

I have learnt many new skills like how to do a patch repair on an Aircraft Fuselage or how to rewire a control switch for the cart lifts within the aircraft. I have definitely gained more confidence in my ability and become better with tools and communicating and working with other people.

Being in the Hangars and on the Aircraft doing what we are training to do is the best part of it all. The hands on practical side back at base cannot be faulted. its always a great environment and is full of kind and knowledgeable people who want to see you succeed. However, that can be overshadowed by the various negatives within the programme unfortunately.

There have been issue after issue with organisation and structure, having multiple managers and not really knowing what is going on, especially when there is such little time left is shocking. However, everything is in place and working well for the years below, we were just the first year doing our programme so there will always be issues and problems.

During our time away from base training, employer support was minimal. Since coming back, its been a bit up and down depending on the issues faced. Certain staff members have been absolutely fantastic and have supported me with every problem I have had but there have been other members of staff who have been subpar. The lack of support for disabilities is less than ideal.

Having been back from the training provider for many months, I have only seen the assessor a handful of times. He does his best but is new to the training company and has had to sort out many issues that they had with the NVQ and hadn't changed. He certainly does his best but has been put in a bad situation.

The modules we covered are essential to the job and progressing further, the knowledge you learn is crucial to everyday work as it allows you a better understanding of how the aircraft and the industry works. The NVQ is a little tedious but gives you a better and clearer view of why certain things are done.

An Apprentice Forum once a year that gathers apprentices from across the business and allows everyone to find out what the other ones do and how they feel about it. Its a great way to gain an insight into how the business runs as a whole rather than just the department you are in. It would be nice to have more though.

Yes

Working for such a well known brand is great for your CV, the workers are phenomenal and, even with all the bad experiences, I wouldn't want to work anywhere else.

Be open-minded, honest and take every opportunity you can get. Be yourself, don't try and be someone else because you won't last. The employees in this company are like family, so treat everyone with respect and you'll be fine. The work is hard but the career is worth it.