I'm quite young, not yet in college, but I am interested in airport management and have been for some time. Unfortunately, there aren't many opportunities that I have been able to find for me to learn more about this. Knowing that Airliners.net is full of people from several levels of experience, I thought I would come here to ask you guys. What path should I take to pursue this interest? Are there any particularly valuable resources or tips that anyone would be willing to share with me?

Thanks,
Daniel

Are you looking to get involved in the airport or airline side? What part of the world are you in? There are different paths, gaining experience through starting off with entry level jobs and working your way up or doing a college program, internship and hopefully getting hired. A great place to learn airport ops is working at a small airport. That will give you opportunities to see many different sides of things vs. a job at a large airport where you might see only one terminal. Anything specific you want to do?

Danielator36 wrote:

I'm quite young, not yet in college, but I am interested in airport management and have been for some time. Unfortunately, there aren't many opportunities that I have been able to find for me to learn more about this. Knowing that Airliners.net is full of people from several levels of experience, I thought I would come here to ask you guys. What path should I take to pursue this interest? Are there any particularly valuable resources or tips that anyone would be willing to share with me?

Thanks,
Daniel

It would generally depend on exactly what you want to do. Not sure which country you are in but a few universities offer courses covering that area.

Cranfield offers a very excellent airport management degree, but it is an MSc and I would definitely recommend it after your under grad. Looking for summer jobs in the airport during your summer breaks is one way to get some hands on experience and understanding.

shamrock137 wrote:

Are you looking to get involved in the airport or airline side? What part of the world are you in? There are different paths, gaining experience through starting off with entry level jobs and working your way up or doing a college program, internship and hopefully getting hired. A great place to learn airport ops is working at a small airport. That will give you opportunities to see many different sides of things vs. a job at a large airport where you might see only one terminal. Anything specific you want to do?

I am interested in commercial/airline operations at airports. For example, I am interested in the process of attracting airlines to an Airport as a new destination, etc. I am in the Midwest United States, and there is a pretty small, local airport extremely close to me. The airport lost airline service more than a decade ago but still works to regain it, and the passenger terminal is still there. I am actually interested in working at a smaller airport, but I'm not sure how I should go about getting internships or something of the sort at such a young age. (The airport is also run by a university if that helps)

waly777 wrote:

It would generally depend on exactly what you want to do. Not sure which country you are in but a few universities offer courses covering that area.

Cranfield offers a very excellent airport management degree, but it is an MSc and I would definitely recommend it after your under grad. Looking for summer jobs in the airport during your summer breaks is one way to get some hands on experience and understanding.

I actually live in a town with a major university, and it offers aviation management courses. Is there a way to take these or some form of these without being in college yet? (Sorry, I'm in high school and not yet very familiar with college)

It sounds like you may know more than we do about this.

Airport management is a small world. If you truly want that type of job, go to college, then figure out what you want from there. Find a part time job at the airport and learn about how it works. Ask the older generation there for advice. They have been there 20-30 years and will be glad to show anybody how much they know. Few people probably ask. You'd be better off starting at an airport that actually has airline service - you won't learn about it without having it there.

Here's a trick - join LinkedIn. Search for people who are Airport Director today, or manager. Look at their previous jobs and educational background. It's all public. There's your answer.

Danielator36 wrote:

waly777 wrote:

It would generally depend on exactly what you want to do. Not sure which country you are in but a few universities offer courses covering that area.

Cranfield offers a very excellent airport management degree, but it is an MSc and I would definitely recommend it after your under grad. Looking for summer jobs in the airport during your summer breaks is one way to get some hands on experience and understanding.

I actually live in a town with a major university, and it offers aviation management courses. Is there a way to take these or some form of these without being in college yet? (Sorry, I'm in high school and not yet very familiar with college)

I would agree with flighty in that case, college would be your best bet in this field as well as a part time or holiday job at the airport with airline service to gain some experience.

It's unlikely you could take these aviation courses without some sort of aviation or professional background outside a degree setting. The reputable courses will need some entry requirements first.

Oh, I just saw your age, i don't know if there is a minimum age requirement to work at your local airport but that would be best place to start whilst you prepare for college. Alternative will be to start at the entry level jobs and work your way up.

There are various Airport Management Degree/Diploma programs offered around the world, in addition I would look at the airports themselves. A few offer management trainee programs that are structured towards the younger generation who are either finishing post secondary (University) or have been working briefly (3 years or less).

Flighty wrote:

It sounds like you may know more than we do about this.

Airport management is a small world. If you truly want that type of job, go to college, then figure out what you want from there. Find a part time job at the airport and learn about how it works. Ask the older generation there for advice. They have been there 20-30 years and will be glad to show anybody how much they know. Few people probably ask. You'd be better off starting at an airport that actually has airline service - you won't learn about it without having it there.

Here's a trick - join LinkedIn. Search for people who are Airport Director today, or manager. Look at their previous jobs and educational background. It's all public. There's your answer.

Thank you! I'll try Linkedin, and I am planning on going to college.

Danielator36 wrote:

Thank you! I'll try Linkedin, and I am planning on going to college.

Good plan. Any work experience however will help. Even if its just mowing the grass on the airfield for a summer job, your learning valuable lessons of how an airport operates. My advice would be to look for any part time job while you're in college to help network and use college experience and possibly an internship to help get a full time gig after graduating.

The best first step is buying the Bible of Airline Management .... the MIT textbook, "The Global Airline Industry" by Belobaba, et al.
ISBN-10: 1118881176 ISBN-13: 978-1118881170
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/11188 ... UTF8&psc=1
Knowing the vocabulary and systems analysis of a business sector is required to be a credible player in that sector, and that book gives your the vocabulary and analytic tools for airline management. If by "Aviation Management" you mean something different than airline management, you waste nothing and gain a lot by reading the book.