Customer Services Engineer Review

Maintenance Program Engineer - We define and develop the Scheduled Maintenance Programs for the Airbus Fleet in particular for myself the Fuel and Landing Gear Systems on specific aircrafts. This means supporting the customers with daily queries, actively dealing and presenting to our customers and authorities (EASA) face to face, gaining and developing an understanding of aircrafts systems and developments made to that system.

I have developed both my presentation and communication skills, whilst dealing with different departments and presenting to our customers. I have also developed my computer skills, learning new tools, shortcuts and presenting. Further to this I have developed my decision making and decisiveness, as a part of my role is to make decisions that have impacts to our customers and work outcomes.

I enjoyed being onsite at Airbus and learning about aircrafts, how they work, how they function, the different systems and structural elements. I also enjoyed the vast amount of both face to face and e-learning trainings Airbus provide about a vast amount of topics to do with aircrafts, engineering, systems, Customer Services, Supply chain and so on. Finally I enjoyed working next to people and completing a task that was beneficial to the company.

The structure in regards to being onsite was great, having 3 months in each department and moving around the departments to learn what each of them do and develop my knowledge was fantastic. Then the 1st year was full college work which was good to give you that base knowledge before coming onsite. However, at times it felt that there was much commination between Airbus and the college with training days or days the college had inset days or in regards to what we were doing and learning.

I received a great amount of support from my Early Careers Mangers, Team Area Organiser (TAO), Placement Mangers and head of the department I was going in. They were always asking how I was getting on, if I had any problems and being there to supporting throughout. There was a period of time our Early careers manager left however the support never stopped and the Head of Early Careers and others supported us during this time, which meant the process very smooth.

In the initial year at Weston College and into the second year the support was great for both the BTEC and EAL Level 2 Qualifications from the lectures. They were always there to help and explain further and give support if needed. However, in the Second and Third year when completing our EAL Level 3 Qualification we had a few mentors which made it hard to get the work done, leading to it being rushed at the end. Finally, once we had a settled mentor everything went smoothly and supported provided was second to none, always willing to help no matter what day.

I think the training in college gave me a sound knowledge of engineering in the wider scope of what it is and the different aspect involved. However, I learnt the specific aviation engineering knowledge more in my placements and being onsite doing the job in my second and third year. When it comes to your final role you learn more about that role when your in the department as a placement, as all the departments do such different work.

At Airbus there are loads of extra activities, Gen-A set up guest speakers (customers, key people in the company), events outside of work (Bowling, Meal, Drinks and so on for all). We also have Airbus Department football teams that play each other in a cup that get to travel across to Europe to play. We even do STEM sessions for schools, colleges and so on.

Yes

Airbus is great company to work for, where there is a lot of potential to grow and develop in many different areas and field of engineering. It's a good apprenticeship to get started in a company with good money, good training which leads into a role. Finally, there is room to travel in the job and move around in departments in different countries if wanted.

The first year can be tough being college based but stick through it and remember you get to be onsite from the second year really learning. Other then that remember to take challenges and don't say no because that can open up a lot of doors for you. It will get your name out, develop you as a person and give you great experiences in your apprenticeship and in the company.