Last month, easyJet welcomed students from Icknield High School, Chalk Hills Academy and Challney Girls School to provide insights into travel and aviation industries to help equip local students with key early careers skills and employability support, and to inspire more young people to discover the exciting opportunities working in the aviation and travel industry.

On 12 and 17 July 2023, easyJet and London Luton Airport (LLA) hosted 30 year nine and ten students from Icknield High School at Luton Airport where students were provided with a first-hand insight into what it takes to run an airline and take people on holiday, including aircraft engineering, data and IT and even designing their very own package holiday product, incorporating flights, baggage, hotels and activities, on a set budget.

The students also had an insight into a live airline environment by going behind the scenes at London Luton Airport Terminal as well as operational areas of the airport including taxiways, the runway and aircraft movements, followed by a tour of the airport fire station where they saw some of the fire-fighting equipment in operation.

The airline also hosted a girls engineering day for year nine and ten students from Challney Girls School where they had a deep dive into the role of aircraft engineering at the airline’s Engineering and Maintenance Hangar at LLA, and eight students from Chalk Hills Academy spent a week with easyJet learning about cyber and data security and the importance of securing personal data. Both groups also had lessons in CV structure, an invaluable skill for future life.

Mahdi, a student at Icknield High School said:

“On this trip I felt really amazed as I saw how big the airport was and I loved the fire truck and the tour of the airport. The easyJet workers that were helping us around the airport were really nice. This trip has been one of the best experiences I have had so far.”

Ms. U. Qayyum, Assistant Headteacher and Business Teacher at Icknield High School said:

“Students had an incredible and thought-provoking day at easyJet where they participated in a range of activities from planning a holiday on a budget, having a tour of the hangar and airport and spending time with the airport rescue and firefighting team to learn about their firefighting equipment and how they would conduct an emergency response. The entire day was remarkable for the students from start to finish and a special thank you to easyjet for their warm hospitality.” –

Miss J. Lam, Careers Co-Ordinator at Icknield High School said:

“easyJet and London Luton Airport organised a fantastic programme for our students to gain an eye-opening insight into the world of travel and aviation, plus the important behind the scenes work that goes into running a successful organisation and business. Students learned a meaningful lesson on teamwork and communication through the budgeting workshop and the exciting airport tour educated them, on the extensive roles and departments that collaborate together to provide passengers with a safe and successful journey. Students also learnt about the importance of maintaining good health and wellbeing in the workplace, with a thought provoking talk from Oliver which inspired them to think about how they can overcome challenges and manage stress. Thank you to Peter, Emily, Joshua, Hannah and the team for this valuable experience and for being such good role models for our students to learn from. I’m sure this will be a memory that our students think back to when they leave us!”

The visits form part of the airline’s ongoing work to support employability and early careers opportunities and to drive a more diverse community within the airline and the aviation industry as a whole.

This year the airline launched a team of Enterprise Advisors – easyJet employees from across the business including Engineering and Maintenance, IT and Data and Operations – who are partnered with local schools in the Luton and Gatwick areas, home to the airline’s largest UK operations, to provide careers advice and employability support to young people.

easyJet has also partnered with leading diversity in aviation youth organisation Fantasy Wings to provide young people from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds and young women with greater opportunity to launch a career in the industry, through Fantasy Wings’ aviation career development programme. easyJet is sponsoring places for students from 50 schools across the UK to join the programme, which is designed to equip young people with the necessary tools they need to succeed in the industry and land their first-time role through skills development, practical knowledge training, career mentorship by industry leaders and even flight training.

Since 2016, the airline’s Pilot School Visit’s programme has seen pilots visit hundreds of schools up and down the country for young people to learn more about the career, focused on encouraging more girls to become an airline pilot. Schools and parents can request a visit from an easyJet pilot by contacting [email protected].

More information on all career opportunities with easyJet can be found at https://careers.easyjet.com.