Civil aviation is commonly related to the work of pilots and in flight crew while other services that go to make an airplane airborne remain rather in the background to a casual onlooker.
The airports
A great amount of coordinated activity by trained personnel and hi-tech equipment guided by administrative mechanisms has made international and national air travel safe and efficient. Airports play an important role in the smooth operation of flights within the country as also those operating to and from the country.
In our country Airport Authority of India (AAI) is responsible for the management and development of international airports, domestic aerodromes, civil air terminals as well as civil enclaves at Defence aerodromes. It controls and manages the entire Indian Air space as accepted by the International Civil Aviation Organisation. The Airport Authority is responsible for the construction and maintenance of runways, aircraft movement areas and passenger terminals. Communication and security systems, air traffic services, cargo complexes and warehouses, ground aids and safety services are taken care of by the AAI. Ensuring efficiency of these services as well as acquiring the latest facilities is the endeavour of the organisation. The AAI has centers for training of fire fighting squads and for aerodrome and communication personnel. Job opportunities with the Airport Authority of India are good and remunerative.
Nature of Work
Managers
The airports have managers to take care of its various departments. These are personnel manager, legal manager, cargo manager, economic planning manager, commercial manager, housekeeping manager, stores and purchase manager, airport manager and electronics and technical manager. Managers look after the functioning of the airport in each of these departments.
Airlines staff on ground duty
The Commercial Operations Division of airlines takes care of passenger services at the airport. They carry out duties such as checking in passengers for the flight, issuing/checking boarding passes, directing passengers, providing information, preparing passenger lists, completing luggage and cargo documentation etc. They are the first people to welcome the passengers, check them in for the flight, guide them through immigration terminals, custom checks and security clearances and attend to passenger needs till they are on the flight. Traffic assistants over see the loading and unloading of passengers’ luggage issuing instructions to passengers while deplaning and arranging for trolleys for passenger luggage.
Selection/Entry
Airline Ground staff
Passenger services personnel are recruited by almost all airlines, public and private, from young graduates/postgraduates who have excellent communication skills and the ability to work as a team. Fluency in English and Hindi are required and knowledge of a foreign language is an asset for recruitment. Foreign airlines also recruit ground duty passenger service staff, reservation staff from India to work in passenger service at our country’s air terminals. Reservation staff too are recruited for making bookings for travel on the airline and for editing of messages from the global reservation system of the airline.
Airport managers
The requirements for managers are as follows :
Legal manager must have a degree in law. Personnel managers must have a degree/diploma in personnel management/labour welfare/law/social science and 5 years experience in personnel management. Economic planning managers are postgraduates in economics/statistics/maths with a background of transport economics and some experience. Commercial managers require a graduate degree and some experience in handling commercial/revenue matters. Cargo managers must be graduates/MBA degree holders with experience in handling cargo at supervisory level in airlines/seaport/Air force/IATA approved cargo agencies and must have knowledge of computers and EDP systems. The Housekeeping manager must be a graduate with a diploma in hotel management and 3 years experience in an executive capacity in a hotel. Stores and Purchase managers must be graduates trained in materials management and with 5 years experience of managing stores.
