British Airways

The UK's flag carrier, based at Waterside near Heathrow, with 11 types of apprenticeship, graduate schemes and business placements.

About British Airways

British Airways (BA) is the UK's national airline. It was formally created on 31 March 1974 by merging four earlier airlines, and its roots go back to the first daily international air service from London to Paris in 1919. Its head office, Waterside, is in Harmondsworth near Heathrow, and Heathrow Terminal 5 is its main hub. BA has a big presence at Gatwick, and its sister airline BA CityFlyer flies from London City. Teams include pilots, cabin crew, engineers, airport customer service, data, finance and digital.

BA describes its current direction as "A Better BA", and its Aspiring Leader apprenticeship ties into that journey. We did not find a short mission statement on the pages we read. BA's release in November 2024 said it expected a record number of applications and that it wants to help young people into aviation through its free Speedbird-Z careers site, which had more than 40,000 users.

In the UK, BA's early-careers pages name London Heathrow, Manchester and Newcastle (customer service advisors), Glasgow Airport (aircraft maintenance) and Barry near Cardiff (aircraft maintenance in Wales, with college training at Nantgarw). Engineering placements are in Wales and at Heathrow. The assessment centre for graduates is at Waterside.

BA says apprentices receive the same benefits as other staff from day one, including discounted flights for themselves, friends and family and 22 days' annual leave, and that graduate and apprentice networks let people learn from colleagues and volunteer to inspire others. These are company statements. BA also says its team attended almost 350 careers events and met around 70,000 young people in the year before November 2024.

BA's apprenticeship page (listing from the 2024 round, so check current dates) lists 11 schemes, including Customer Service (18 months, £16,900), Business Professional (3 years, £19,400), Data Science (4 years, £26,900, needing ABB at A level including maths at B), Heathrow Aircraft Maintenance (3 years, £15,000 rising), Glasgow Aircraft Maintenance (3 years, £16,200) and Ground Operations (18 months). Its graduates page lists a 10-week summer internship and an 11-month business placement at £26,000 pro rata, and two-year engineering graduate schemes at £33,000 with a minimum 2:2 (an engineering degree for the technical route, any subject for the business route), plus a three-year finance scheme at £34,500. Selection is an online assessment, a video interview and an assessment centre. Salaries are as listed on BA's pages and may have changed.

What they do

• {'desc': 'Long- and short-haul flights from Heathrow, Gatwick and London City.', 'title': 'Passenger flights'}
• {'desc': 'Maintenance at Heathrow, Glasgow and Cardiff-area hangars.', 'title': 'Aircraft engineering'}
• {'desc': '11 apprenticeship types plus graduate schemes, internships and placements.', 'title': 'Early careers'}

Key facts

• Created in 1974; head office at Waterside, Harmondsworth, near Heathrow
• 11 apprenticeship schemes, including aircraft maintenance at Heathrow, Glasgow and Barry near Cardiff
• Graduate engineering schemes: 2 years, £33,000, minimum 2:2 (salary as listed by BA)
• Summer internship: 10 weeks at £26,000 pro rata; business placement 11 months
• Apprentices get discounted flights and 22 days annual leave from day one

Website: www.britishairways.com