Airline Customer Service Careers by Tony Jacowski

The United States airline industry has gradually moved on, away from the bankruptcy of four major carriers, a few years ago. However, this also resulted in the materialization of various discount carriers that have now come to the forefront of the aviation industry.

What Are The Different Job Titles In The Aviation Industry?

Customer Service job opportunities in the airlines industry includes these job titles:

- Ramp Agents
- Customer Service Agents
- Reservation Agents
- Baggage Handlers
- Line Service Technicians

Management positions include:

- Customer Service Manager
- Airport Operations Manager
- Station Manager

Who is Hiring?

The commercial carriers offer excellent employment opportunities. For customer service personnel, the turnover rate can be pretty high, depending on certain factors. These include the working conditions and the airline. While trying to identify a customer service placement in an airline, most of the time you are required to work within the airline operations. However, there are certain positions at the Airport Authority or a separate vendor within the airport. Listed below are the airlines that hire agents for customer services:

Legacy Carriers: Continental, Northwest, US Air, American, Delta and United are all legacy carriers. In the US, these carriers have been of great help in setting up the aviation industry. However, only Continental and American have been able to evade bankruptcy. Therefore, pursuing a career with a legacy carrier can definitely be risky.

Foreign Carriers: Depending on your choice of carrier, you are sometimes required to speak the language of the concerned carrier country, as well as English. The carriers include Mexicana, British Airways, Korean Airlines, Lufthansa, Air Canada, Japan Airlines, Air France, KLM and other flag carriers, along with the different discount carriers from various countries all over the world.

Discount Carriers: Discount airlines are the best contenders today. Jet Blue and Southwest are two of the best and since both are expanding, the hiring of personnel takes place on a regular basis. Other carriers include USA 3000 and Spirit.

Regional Operators: These operators act as "feeder" airlines for the bigger carriers. Regional operators include Republic, American Eagle, Great Lakes, Colgan, Shuttle America and Comair.

Charter Carriers: Many airlines fly chartered flights and some even fly special scheduled flights. Charter carriers include Xtra Airways, Sun Country and Miami Air.

Cargo Carriers: These carriers move goods and merchandise and even equipment, from one place to another. Job opportunities here include placement as equipment handlers and sales agents. The principal cargo companies are FEDEX, Emery Worldwide, DHL, Amerijet and UPS.

In 2005, Maxjet Airways and EOS Airlines, two of the most recently launched airline carriers, indulged in a recruitment spree, prior to their first few flights. As is the case with most startups, long-term opportunity questions can never be sufficiently answered. Many new aviation ventures have been known to fail.

The airline industry does provide job opportunities that are promising and stable. While the wages for those who wish to work on an hourly basis is generally low, the benefits, which include flight privileges, are fairly reasonable. Despite all these factors, the aviation industry has always been an interesting prospect for millions of people. The decrease in fuel prices and the strength of the economy have witnessed a rise in the job opportunities in customer service.

Author Resource: Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solution's Six Sigma Online offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.

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