Advice on Working For An Airline vs. Handling Company

Hi all,
I'm beginning to look pretty seriously at working for an airline at JFK for quite a few months. I am most interested in working for an international airline with a sizable JFK operation.

I would like to know what your thoughts are on working for an airline directly versus working for a handling company (like Swissport) that contracts out to an airline. In my case, a handling company contracts out for an airline I would really like to work with, but I'm not all familiar with handling company reputations and business methods.

I'm fairly new at all of this, so all insight is most appreciated.

Thanks!

-Will

Working for Swissport Ramp would mean you will be loading bags, driving tugs and doing a lot of grunt work on the ramp. It's not easy, the pay isn't very good, and though some people are very nice, many of your coworkers will be very miserable and whiny people. It's not exactly the ideal place for someone who's doing it because of enthusiasm, or someone who wants to start a career in aviation. Other ramp companies are Servisair, Triangle and Evergreen.

Then there are the Swissport people that do the passenger service work like the ticket counters and such. The pay is probably SLIGHTLY better and is a better environment for being noticed and moving up or onto an airline.

Personally, if you're young and starting off, I'd try to get a job within an airline itself. Ticket counters for an airline that does not hire another company to do it.

Also keep in mind that if you're looking to start a career int he airlines, be prepared to not make much money even when you climb a bit higher.

Can you give us a better idea of what you're looking for exactly, and what your career plans are?

Stay away from a contract company if you are not going in as at least local management. Go for an airline. Servisair is based in great Neck and they are the pits. Tirange is not much better and from what I understand Evergreen is the lowest of the low. they do BA at TPA and I talked to one of their guys once. They give them a pass a year on BA and that is it. At least as a trainer at Servisair I had flight bennies with a few carriers. Of course baording priority was a notch below what the actual airline employees had but for the most part you were treated well. Go to an airline is my advice.

Hi everyone,
Thanks for your replies.

I am interested in working at check-in or at the gate--not on the ramp.

I would not really consider this the start of a career but rather sort of a "summer job" (but in the fall).

I would defineately go to a major airline, Delta holds a fairly high standard. Are you looking to work at an airport in particular? PM me with your intentions. We will talk.

My order of preference would be JFK, EWR, then LGA. Working for a foreign international airline would be my first choice and then a US airline.

I think I may offer a different perspective on this topic, as I was hired by a contracting company (though at LAX) to work for All Nippon Airways and absolutely LOVED IT. Similar to you, Will, I had no interest in doing any dull tasks such as loading bags onto an airplane, yet wanted to fullfil this life-long desire of mine to work with planes.

Though I knew from the start this would not be what I wanted to do as a career (for a variety of reasons), I found a contracting company that handles staff hiring for about 25 international airlines at LAX. Applying and interviewing was a total breeze, probably attributed to my passion for aviation. Finally, I was given the offer to work for Air Pacific, Qantas, or ANA. I chose the later due to my love for Japan and ideal work hours. As a customer service agent, I checked in a handful of the business class passengers for NH 005 to Narita, escorted VIP to/from our lounges, and worked with a team of others at the gate until our plane pushed back each day. Not to mention, I got to speak Japanese and step onto the mighty B777-300ER every time I went to work! (except for days that we had the B747-400 sub...man, that was a bitch...)

In my opinion, I would NOT recommend working for an international airline with gargantuous operations at JFK like British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Air France. Things can just get REALLY hectic when you're dealing with that huge of an amount of pax for int'l flights, take my word for it! (The JAL counters were directly across from ours when I worked at LAX, and it was basically chaos 24/7...we used to make fun of them :P ) Instead, personally, I'd be much happier working for something along the lines of Finnair, CSA, or Aerolineas Argentinas for instance...an airline with few flights each day = less airport/pax insanity!

As a contracted airline worker, ultimately, I was able to satisfy a great wish of mine to work with planes, and it was without a doubt the coolest job I've had thus far. I'm so thankful to have been given the opportunity to work for such a wonderful airline, and it simply goes to show people that if an individual puts his mind to something, with persistence, it can be obtained! Such is the reward of being tencious as myself! :D

Good luck in pursuit of your dream!


- jMay

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Originally Posted by Winglets747

My order of preference would be JFK, EWR, then LGA. Working for a foreign international airline would be my first choice and then a US airline.

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many foreign carriers around here have local handling companies working everything for them. you'd have to contact those companies to see if they're hiring for customer service positions. sometimes, they only hire for the ramp off the street.

me, i work for an airline. the best perk we've got is the privaledge to nonrev. i fly for free on my carrier, anywhere we fly. there are a few catches, and it does take a while to get used to doing it comfortably. if ihad to choose all over again, i'd choose another airline hands down.

feel free to pm me if you have any specific questions.

Excellent point, Matt. Though I don't have many opportunities to non-rev, it's a a great benefit to working directly for an airline.

other things to consider are what the companies are offering in terms of medical, dental, vision and retirment benefits.

Ha ha haha Matt the retirement bennies deal and airline related jobs is the funniest comment all day. A proper way of saying it is lack there of.