Airline Pricing/Revenue Management Jobs

nsa0bupkd3948x

I'm a recent graduate and have been trying to work out what I would like to do for a living. I've always been interested in commercial aviation and think I'd fit in well with a job involving airfare pricing/yield management for an airline.

Would anyone here be involved in this field and have some tips for me as to how I could get a foot in the door?

Open Up

Chaim Crooked Sleeper wrote: »

I'm a recent graduate and have been trying to work out what I would like to do for a living. I've always been interested in commercial aviation and think I'd fit in well with a job involving airfare pricing/yield management for an airline.

Would anyone here be involved in this field and have some tips for me as to how I could get a foot in the door?

Aer Lingus had a graduate programme in their revenue management department starting this year. Did you miss it?

nsa0bupkd3948x

Open Up wrote: »

Aer Lingus had a graduate programme in their revenue management department starting this year. Did you miss it?

Yes unfortunately I did.

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Chaim Crooked Sleeper wrote: »

Yes unfortunately I did.

Unfortunately graduate programmes seem to be the best way in at the moment. Same with Ryanair. Alternatively, enter a company through another, but similar, department to get a foot in the door. The likes of network planning jobs or entry-level roles in the finance department.

nsa0bupkd3948x

Would there be many revenue management jobs in Ireland? A network planning job would interest me as well.

Anything to do with the running of an airline.

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Chaim Crooked Sleeper wrote: »

Would there be many revenue management jobs in Ireland? A network planning job would interest me as well.

Anything to do with the running of an airline.

I don't see many opportunities coming up directly in revenue management unfortunately. Whereas EI were looking for a network planning analyst up until the other week. It's more common to see roles advertised in that department with EI anyway. It's just a matter of keeping an eye out on all the airlines' recruitment pages. Ryanair always have a load of vacancies up. I hear SAS are about to recruit further staff here too now that their executive functions are filled. So keep an eye on that too.

nsa0bupkd3948x

Thanks for taking the time to help out.

I took a look online and saw a few jobs that interest me.

In particular:

Ryanair Yield Analyst
https://jobbio.com/ie/job/43688/swords-county-dublin-ireland/ryanair/yield-analyst?utm_source=linked-in

and
Ryanair Flight Ops Trainee - I think this position might be filled already as its not on Ryanair's Website.
https://workable.com/j/50B5FF9EF0

I'm away for 2 months so when I get back I'll start applying. Would there be any short courses or things I should be looking to do to make myself more attractive to employers? I graduated in Computer Science and so far have been mostly programming/server management so its a bit of a change in career path.

Open Up

Chaim Crooked Sleeper wrote: »

Thanks for taking the time to help out.

I took a look online and saw a few jobs that interest me.

In particular:

Ryanair Yield Analyst
https://jobbio.com/ie/job/43688/swords-county-dublin-ireland/ryanair/yield-analyst?utm_source=linked-in

and
Ryanair Flight Ops Trainee - I think this position might be filled already as its not on Ryanair's Website.
https://workable.com/j/50B5FF9EF0

I'm away for 2 months so when I get back I'll start applying. Would there be any short courses or things I should be looking to do to make myself more attractive to employers? I graduated in Computer Science and so far have been mostly programming/server management so its a bit of a change in career path.

I know for a fact the ops trainee isn't filled as a friend of mine was called regarding interview for it earlier in the week and he only applied on Monday I think.

I don't know of any short courses to be honest. I would suggest looking at masters courses though in some business discipline, if that's an option for you. You can do an MSc in air transport management too but you'd have to go to the UK. Distance learning may be an option for that one however.

nsa0bupkd3948x

Open Up wrote: »

I know for a fact the ops trainee isn't filled as a friend of mine was called regarding interview for it earlier in the week and he only applied on Monday I think.

I don't know of any short courses to be honest. I would suggest looking at masters courses though in some business discipline, if that's an option for you. You can do an MSc in air transport management too but you'd have to go to the UK. Distance learning may be an option for that one however.

Interesting. Unfortunately, I'm away for the next two months so probably will be filled by the time I'm available although hopefully more will open up.

I'll take a look into the masters options.

Would you know roughly what the pay would be for the ops trainee?

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Chaim Crooked Sleeper wrote: »

Interesting. Unfortunately, I'm away for the next two months so probably will be filled by the time I'm available although hopefully more will open up.

I'll take a look into the masters options.

Would you know roughly what the pay would be for the ops trainee?

At a rough guess I would suggest mid 20s in a trainee-type role like that. I'm pretty sure their graduates start at 28k.

nsa0bupkd3948x

I'm guessing there'd be relatively good scope for career (and salary) advancements once I've experience within the industry?

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Chaim Crooked Sleeper wrote: »

I'm guessing there'd be relatively good scope for career (and salary) advancements once I've experience within the industry?

It's a very broad industry so yes. To be blunt though, the airline business is not one where you will make a lot of money unless you're at the top. Sure there are decent paying jobs in the airlines but if you want to make money I would focus on your background. IT and computer science jobs seem to be where the big bucks are at! As far as the aviation sector goes, there is a lot of money to be made in aircraft leasing but for those jobs they favour accounting/finance/law backgrounds.

nsa0bupkd3948x

I was afraid of that. I don't mind taking a hit on the pay if its a job I really enjoy - and I'm pretty confident anything involving airlines/scheduling/pricing would interest me hugely.

phonypony

Have you seen the finance graduate programme? https://careers.ryanair.com/search/#job/7510a

C380

Stumbled across this post and couldn’t help but to offer some insight, apologies for the length.
I’m currently in an RM role less than 4 years from graduation having worked for 3 separate companies, 2 of which were airlines and in different roles. Hopefully I can offer up some of what I have experienced which may be helpful to you, otherwise perhaps some things maybe which not to do  Best advice I could offer you, focus on developing your skill sets and getting a good knowledge base for the industry (This does not necessarily have to be done within an airline). Without having a good foundation you may struggle in certain aspects, I had a department head tell me racing up the ladder is a risky game if you do it too fast as the stakes tend to be higher and I have witnessed this as the detriment of colleagues.
Don’t feel too disappointed regarding not applying for the graduate programs, I intentionally avoided the programs upon graduation to focus on travelling for a while and I haven’t any reason just yet to believe I am at a disadvantage. I do think if you know you want to enter the aviation industry but not clear in what specific area then the graduate programs are very valuable with regards to the variety of roles being covered. For me it just wasn’t my priority at the time.
I relocated outside of Ireland to join an airline, I had aspirations that resulted in my focus being on the long haul market, more a fascination with far flung destinations than anything. This was not before spending just shy of 2 years in Ireland with a small company in the industry which stood to me greatly. For me and other friends have agreed the skills you learn in your first graduate job were as equally important as the courses we studied. There was a lot I had to learn in 2 years that university hadn’t prepared me for that would be crucial in ensuring I would progress the way I have plus allowed me to learn from my shortcomings of which there were plenty 
After 2 years I was ready for taking a stab at joining an airline, again I was very particular as to who I wanted to work for so I waited until I saw a position in an airline I was confident I would be a strong candidate for, this was an analyst role but focusing on some aspects of my previous work. Some advice, most companies keep databases in HR of jobs individuals apply for, I wouldn’t recommend applying for a variety of roles with the hope of joining the airline, that variety is sometimes viewed negatively I believe. My first role I thoroughly enjoyed as too the airline itself. Being based at HQ allowed for its own perks however the potential for travel was not as lucrative as I naively thought. With that in mind I decided that I was keen on turning this on it’s head and working in the field which ment I had to think again. I was fortunate I worked on a project where a third party had recommended me to another airline so the transition happened much sooner than I had expected. I was lucky also that I was allowed on the interview panel for my replacement and while a humbling experience to see some of the candidates applying for the role what stood to me more was the sheer volume of applications, I won’t lie it did make me question my decision to move on. With that volume came the difficult task of narrowing down those we would later interview which is when I learned how important it is to build one’s CV, I reviewed the CV’s of the remaining 20 candidates ( I believe HR said over 100+ had applied) and it was quiet difficult to narrow this down to 6 people who we would later interview. Standing out and ticking as many boxes as possible is very key.
Fast forward to my current role in a very well-known legacy carrier where I manage the revenue on some interesting markets and do more travel than I could have originally envisaged, it’s not uncommon for me to find myself in an airport 4-5 consecutive days in a row. What I will say is RM is definitely a role where you want to be confident in your skill set and knowledge, revenue performance has eyes on it from a very high level so transparency is important and there is very little space for hiding. I am definitely grateful I didn’t find myself in an RM role straight after graduation. From experience the money is higher paying than what other analytical roles may offer however I wouldn’t get overly consumed on that aspect especially as a graduate. Focus on gaining experience and developing your skills I would recommend.
While the role is enjoyable and one I can see myself in for the coming years it comes with it’s challenges. Getting the work life balance is difficult at the best of times but because of the travel I do I find myself at times missing out on some of the aspects that are important in a 20’s life. My friends are envious of where I get to travel but the down time is not like that of crews, I have had some hectic schedules and often spend more time flying to a destination than on the ground, RM based in the field is definitely different to HQ. That said I try and ensure I get the most out of the role and do spend lots of time trying to get the balance with my personal life right. This is applicable in lots of roles of course not unique to aviation.
I would recommend when you return from your 2 months of travel, I am sure you earned it after final year that you spend time trying to establish what type of airlines you may want to work for and the area you would like to focus on. I don’t have much experience with the opportunities for RM within Ireland, unfortunately neither EI or FR interested me initially so I had to look outside Ireland so perhaps that may be something you might want to consider. If you are not keen on relocating just yet perhaps look at other companies within the aviation sector for roles first, that’s how I broke into the industry and I have not looked back.
All that said, I would not trade what I do, I enjoy it hugely so if you get the opportunity I wish you all the best with it! Hopefully my experiences serve you with some insight that may stand to you going forward.
P.S I currently write you all this from a hotel room where it’s a lot later than at home and warmer I suspect 

nsa0bupkd3948x

C380 wrote: »

Stumbled across this post and couldn’t help but to offer some insight, apologies for the length...

Thank you for taking the time to post such a detailed response. I'm quite torn at the moment what to do.

Looking at my CV and LinkedIn my experience is completely in the IT field. I know the pay will be better in this field as well. I could find a job locally and that would be that.

In comparison, I've little experience that I can put on paper in the aviation industry bar fourth year work experience in an airline and a PPL. The lack of experience I feel would hamper getting into the aviation industry. Then again I've read Flying Off Course on airline economics purely out of interest so I clearly have an interest.

I'm hoping to meet up with a mate in revenue management in an airline in a few weeks to hear what he has to say about it.

Would airlines such as Turkish and Ethiopian have any revenue management jobs in Dublin or would they all be based in Istanbul and Addis Ababa?

Also, re-reading my first message it's not exactly clear - I graduate 2 years ago, been running my own business which I sold up and travelling since.

nsa0bupkd3948x

Sorry for the bump. I'll be back in Ireland next month and am looking to hit the ground running applying for jobs.

Would airlines such as Turkish and Ethiopian have any revenue management jobs in Dublin or would they all be based in Istanbul and Addis Ababa?