Working for an airline still top career choices for British kids

An independent survey of 650 children aged between six and twelve years, in the United Kingdom, shows that working for an airline is still on of the top career choices.

Boys Top Jobs (in order): Footballer, Pilot, Superhero, Policeman, Teacher

Girls Top Jobs (in order): Teacher, vet, nurse/doctor, air stewardess, popstar

Some of the more unusual jobs that children nominated were: a Formula One driver, a shark fisherman, an inventor, a monster truck driver, a pirate, a princess and very specifically – a tree house builder!

The findings also show regional differences; children in London and Wales grow up wanting to be pilots, kids in Northern Ireland aspire to be Superheroes, youngsters from the South West UK hope to be teachers, children in the North West of UK aspire to be footballers, and Scottish kids hope to be vets.

As official partner of Disney’s new movie ‘Planes’ British Airways has renamed an aircraft ‘Bulldog’ after the British aircraft in the film, voiced by John Cleese. The film will be shown on board flights from September.

Abigail Comber, British Airways head of marketing, said:

“It’s great to see that working for an airline is as popular today as it ever was – ranking in the top five jobs for boys. However, with more female pilots at British Airways than ever before, we were surprised to see this wasn’t more popular with girls. Nonetheless, I’m sure Planes will help inspire the British Airways pilots and cabin crew of the future!”

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Opinion Poll: The on-going pilot's strike at Air India; share your views

The topic of the week is the on-going pilot's strike at national carrier Air India by members of the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) which began last month on the 7th making this strike almost a month old.

The strike has caused estimated losses exceeding Rs.350 Crore ($64 million) to airline. This at a time when the airline is on life support, receiving a desperately needed equity infusion of Rs. 1,200 Crore ($219 million) just to pay long pending salaries and critical vendor dues (oil companies, airports, etc.)

In a bold move the airline has sacked over 100 striking pilots and even the courts have ruled the strike illegal. The civil aviation minister Ajit Singh has held out an olive branch saying pilots concerns will be addressed. Now the IPG is continuing the strike demanding that all sacked pilots be re-instated by the airline before they stop striking. To read the view of the IPG, please see this article by Aeroblogger Rohit Rao.

In addition to requesting your comments, this week we have an opinion poll, allowing you to share your views. Please vote in the survey. The other option is provided with a text box to explain your choice, if other than yes or no.

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Survey Results: Price, service quality and comfort are top influencers when buying international travel

In our survey two weeks ago, we asked the discerning readers of Bangalore Aviation to inform us on your top influencing factors on how airlines should secure your international travel business.

Ticket price was the top most factor, followed by the airline's service reputation and seat/cabin comfort in close order.

Surprisingly, not many readers were concerned about an airline's alliance membership, or the reputation of the airline's connecting hub, or the visa requirements of the connecting hub, the last factor being some comfort to the European carriers who are perceived to suffer lost passengers thanks to the strict visa regulations of their respective governments.


Quite clearly, respondents are willing to compromise on schedules and take longer flights, nor are they over concerned about the quality of food (as a foodie it is difficult for me to digest), and on-time performance which is in contrast to the high importance placed on punctuality for domestic air travel.

Again a surprise is the large number of responses that indicated aircraft type as a deciding factor. This ties in to the importance given to seat and cabin comfort considering the long lengths of international flights.

Reflecting the growth of international tourism as well as the large Indian diaspora overseas that regularly returns to India for holidays, there is a slim majority in responses by leisure travellers compared to those who primarily travel for business.


Again reflecting the diverse diaspora of Bangalore Aviation readers, many respondents do pay for additional comfort by travelling in a Premium Economy or Business Class.


Thanks for your participation.

Note from editor.
Survey method. For each factor, respondents were asked to rank from 1 (not important) to 6 (deal breaker) a minimum of two decision factors and a maximum of six.

Each rank was allotted a weight from 0 (for rank 1) to 10 (for rank 6).

The number of responses for each rank were multiplied by the rank weight to arrive at the factor's weighted average, which in turn was multiplied by the total number of responses for that factor to arrive at a factor weighted count.

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Survey: How should an airline secure your business? What is important to you when buying international air tickets?

The readers of Bangalore Aviation are a well travelled, highly knowledgeable group. In our on-going efforts to make the site more interactive, we seek your valuable inputs on various aspects of aviation and travel.

This week, the questions concern international travel. What what factors are important to you when purchasing an international air travel ticket.

This survey is now closed. Read the survey results.

We will keep this survey open for two weeks.

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Survey Results: Top purchase factors important to domestic air travel passengers

After the price of a ticket, the on-time performance of an airline is the biggest factor influencing a potential traveller to purchase a ticket for domestic air travel. This explains why punctuality maniacal IndiGo is rapidly gaining market share in India.

Thanks to the hundreds of Bangalore Aviation readers who participated in this survey.


Survey respondents could select up to five determining factors from a choice of ten and were offered a catch-all "Others" option. Responses were for type of aircraft - something I use a lot when making my travel purchase decisions, but for some reason, forgot to include in the survey. Thanks for reminding me.

What is surprising is the third factor after price and punctuality -- comfort. Respondents were marginally more concerned with comfort ahead if schedule, length of trip (i.e. non-stop vs. connections).

Only a third of respondents were concerned with frequent flier benefits and the reputation of the airline. I guess the corporate traveller is not a vocal majority at Bangalore Aviation.

Less than a third were concerned about baggage allowance, something that is still expected, and offered, even by low fare carriers in India, bundled in to the cost of the ticket. Meals scored even less, and most Bangalore Aviation readers could not care less if there is a premium class offered.

Thanks for sharing your inputs, and stay tuned for the next survey shortly. If you have a particular question you would like asked, please suggest it via a comment.

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Survey: Is a low fare all that matters when purchasing a domestic airline ticket?

The readers of Bangalore Aviation are a well travelled, highly knowledgeable group. To make the site more interactive, I will try and bring one survey a week and seek your valuable inputs the results of which we will share the following week.

Various airline executives claim most passengers only care about price. Everything is secondary or is not important. I have my doubts.

We commence this week with what are your determining factors when buying a domestic airline ticket. I have tried to add as many factors as possible and have provided for an "others" box which can be used for anything I may have left out.

This survey is now closed. Check the survey results here.

I also request you to please let me know, via a comment, what other questions you would like surveyed.

Thanks in advance for your time.

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