Author: sysadm

Name: Siobhan Evans
Date Completed UKOMA Course: Nov 2013
Employer: Thomson Airways
Job Title: VIP Operations Executive

What does your current job entail?

I am responsible for the management, development and delivery of the VIP operational programme on behalf of our North American charterer.  Duties include the development of the onboard guest experience, day to day operation of the programme and forward planning of new and exciting destinations.

What did you enjoy about the UKOMA course?

Where do I start?! The wide variety of subjects contained within the lectures ensured that I came away from the course with a significantly increased understanding of Operations and the factors which impact a flying programme.  In addition, the demographic of the group meant that we were able to share experiences and key challenges, fully appreciating how each airline/company and individual role can affect the operational environment and each other.  Finally, the lecturers who delivered the sessions came with a wealth of experience and knowledge making the learning so much easy to do.

After the UKOMA course how did your career progress (former jobs, companies, milestones, etc)?

Successfully completing the UKOMA course has allowed me to build and expand on what was predominantly a commercial operational role.  The course has armed me with a great depth of knowledge which has made me more confident in my decision making and has allowed me to pro-actively problem solve within my current role.  I am less blinkered when making decisions and am able to balance the commercial need and the operational delivery.   The UKOMA course has certainly reassured me that Operations is my calling!

What would be your advice for anyone wanting to get into Operations Control?

Don’t even hesitate, just do it!  If you are someone likes me who likes every day to be different, thrives off the unknown and enjoys the technical aspect of getting an aircraft off the ground and safely to its destination then Operations Control is just for you.  Take time to build your knowledge and experience and remember that working in Operations becomes more of a way of life rather than just a job!

Name: Karl Kimber
Date Completed UKOMA Course: 2001
Employer: Titan Airways
Job Title: Commercial Executive

What does your current job entail?

I work as part of the Commercial team working in both the wet lease and charter markets.  No day is ever the same –  one day I might  be speaking to an airline who have an AOG aircraft where they need us to operate their service, this may involve launching any aircraft in the fleet in 60 minutes which we call a Go Now. The next day I may be working on an ad hoc charter either pricing new requests or looking after a booked flight. This can be anything from our weekly Dalaman service flying passengers to their holiday resort to flying a film crew and equipment to a set anywhere in the world. Even on quieter days the phone can ring and suddenly you are involved in launching an aircraft into a trouble spot to evacuate British Nationals.

What did you enjoy about the UKOMA course?

I had already worked for Air 2000 as a Ground Operations Coordinator before attending the UKOMA course. The course gave me a much wider view of the Operational side of the airline business and filled a number of knowledge gaps that I had at the time.  Also the networking was a fantastic part of the course, meeting other operations staff from other airlines some of which I am still in contact with today.

After the UKOMA course how did your career progress (former jobs, companies, milestones, etc)?

After UKOMA I continued to work for Monarch as an Operation Assistant for 2 years supporting the Ops Controller as well as flight planning, including ETOPs dispatch.

In 2002 I left Monarch to join Easyjet as a Fleet Controller. This was at the time of the Easyjet / Go-Fly merger and I found myself seconded to the Go-Fly operations team.  This was an exciting time in the low cost industry which was growing at an unprecedented rate, as I joined the fleet size was just 27 aircraft which had increased to over 200 by the time I left the airline in 2011.

In 2008 I transferred from Fleet Control and Flight Planning to Operations Planning. Here I was responsible for the midterm program ensuring a well optimized program was delivered to the day to day Operations staff.  This involved working with many departments of the airline including Engineering, Commercial and the Operations Management team.  In 2011 I left Easyjet to join Titan Airways in my current role as a Commercial Executive.

What would be your advice for anyone wanting to get into Operations Control?

The UKOMA course is a great foundation to a career in Operations. In any airline I would try and have an understanding of each department’s role for example crewing, engineering planning and flight planning. Having an understanding of the various roles allows you to make much better operational decisions with a bigger picture in mind.