Michael
Do you get to travel a lot when working in the airline industry? Or are most jobs working in an office?
When you work in a more corporate environment (not actually on a plane) at an airline, how often are you traveling for work? What job functions travel more or less often than other jobs? It is my dream to be able to travel a lot as a part of my job, but I don't necessarily want to work on a plane. How long do pilots and flight attendants get to stay in certain places they land for work before they have to go again? #airline-industry
3 answers
Alain Valdez
Alain’s Answer
When I'm in an airline in a corporate function or heads of department, you will take at least 20 to 30% of your time travelling to airline destinations to give directions to your subordinates, outsource and having meetings with local regulators and suppliers. But if you would like to travel a lot in airline corporate world, you should join the quality assurance department which conducts audit on business and operations of the airline.
May Mitchell
May’s Answer
Hi Michael, I do not work in the airline industry. I travel frequently for my job today (global marketing role) and my family loves to explore. We are a great appreciation for the airline industry and the people who work in the industry. I have several friends who work in this industry (flight attendants, at the company). I only hear about the awesome benefits that you and your family get to have such as being able to fly anywhere at anytime. You also get special hotel rates or rental car rates when you are with the industry (think of all their business partners). My friend who is a flight attendant may work only 10 days in a month. She flys ("works") 3-4 days straight and then she gets 4-5 days off. Like any job, you will earn your way up to the ideal days to work and the routing. If she wants to take days off, it sounds pretty easy to do that as well. She will need to find a backup person to take her schedule.
Jonathan Maer
Jonathan’s Answer
Hi,
Great question! Travel will vary from role to role. I have been in the corporate offices of a major airline for nearly 2 decades. Some positions I had required 0% travel and others could be as much as 25%. It depends on the role and the department. A lot of job postings(both airline and non-airline) will say this job requires X% travel. However if you want a job where you consistently travel then you may look into being a flight attendant, pilot, sales, safety auditor, or other areas. Also outside of the travel industry if you work for a consultant firm like Accenture, Bain, Deloitte, PWC they often require a lot of travel to their client locations. And although traveling may seem glamorous and fun, work travel is not all that it is cracked up to be. I often joke that I've seen some of the ugliest conference rooms in some of the most beautiful cities on earth. It's good to have some travel, but also nice to be at home. Good luck.