Employer profile: Virgin Atlantic, a British-based long-haul airline

Airlines help to fly passengers and goods across the globe, but what is it like to work for one? In this guide, you’ll learn all about working at Virgin Atlantic, what apprenticeship opportunities are available, and how to apply.

Virgin Atlantic at a glance:

Jon Sharpe, who is a Recruitment Lead, tells us what it’s really like to work for Virgin Atlantic.

What does Virgin Atlantic do?

Virgin Atlantic is the UK’s only exclusively long-haul commercial airline. Since it was founded by Richard Branson in 1984, we’ve grown from a small team with one 747 plane to a global network that employs over 7,000 people worldwide. We fly from the UK to over 35 destinations across the world including New York, South Africa, and Shanghai.

Where is Virgin Atlantic based?

We have five main locations: Crawley, Heathrow Hangar, Heathrow airport, Swansea, and Manchester airport.

Our head office, called The VHQ, is located in Crawley, West Sussex near Gatwick airport. The VHQ is home to nearly half of our staff and it includes colleagues from across lots of different areas of the business like sales and marketing.

We have airport operations teams at Heathrow airport terminal 3 and Manchester airport terminal 2. This includes our passenger agents, Clubhouse staff, check-in agents, and operations management team. 

Our Engineering teams are based at our aircraft hangar in Heathrow, and our customer centres are based in Swansea and Crawley.

What is your workspace like?

The VHQ is a very modern building with lots of funky breakout spaces and soundproof air-sealed pods linked with computers that look like space pods! There is a large auditorium with TVs for our staff training events, and we even have themed areas — for example, we have a Virgin Atlantic Holidays themed space which is designed to look like a beach bar!

What are the top five work environments that best describe what it's like to work at Virgin Atlantic (taken from the Unifrog work environment profiles)?

• Lots of oral communication
• Working independently
• Having critical responsibilities
• Needing high skills
• Often working with others

What are some of the most common roles at Virgin Atlantic?

The most common roles at Virgin Atlantic are found within our cabin crew, and they help us to serve over 5 million passengers each year! Our cabin crew undertake training at our CAE centre in Crawley. Here, you’ll learn how our planes work and train on a mock plane with video screens on the windows to make it feel like you’re taking off and flying!

All of our flights are long-haul, so our cabin crew normally fly to a destination, have one or two rest days, and then fly back. All cabin crew get their rotas several weeks in advance, which tells you where you'll be working. This also includes shifts where you’re on standby, so you’ll need to be within a close distance of the airport in case more cabin crew are needed at short notice for a flight.

What jobs do you offer that people might not expect?

We have lots of roles that you might not expect, like:

• Mixologists, who create exciting cocktails at our Clubhouse lounges
• Concierges, who are the welcoming faces of the Clubhouses and look after our upper class passengers
• Tug drivers, who help to pull the planes into and out of the right gates, ready for takeoff or disembarking
• Our crew logistics team, who help to plan rotas for cabin crew and pilots
• Flight planners, who make sure that the flight schedules are correct and that our planes take off at the right location
• Our cargo logistics team, who help businesses to transit goods on our flights

How can someone join Virgin Atlantic at entry-level?

We have a Level 3 Engineering Technician apprenticeship, which is a two-year programme based at our aircraft hangar in Heathrow, where you’ll get lots of opportunities to work on planes like Airbus A350s and Boeing 787s. You’ll also be able to undertake part of your training in the Cotswolds with our engineering partners. 

We also have a Level 3 Business Administration apprenticeship and a bi-yearly engineering graduate programme. 

One of the great benefits of completing your apprenticeship with us, in addition to the training and nationally recognised qualifications, is that you are entitled to a number of free of fare flights each year! Please check out our website for more information. 

What are the entry requirements for these roles? 

For our Level 3 apprenticeship programmes you’ll need a grade 4/C or above in English, maths, and a science subject. You’ll also need to demonstrate excellent technical skills during our assessment days.

What skills does Virgin Atlantic look for in applicants?

We look for people with drive and ambition who think, see, and do things differently. We employ, develop, and promote employees based on their skills and values. 

Throughout our application, assessment or interview processes, we’re looking for the above alongside core skills like teamwork, problem-solving, creativity, and resilience.

What is one top tip to help an entry-level applicant succeed at getting into Virgin Atlantic?

During the application process, make sure you research us as a company and the role you’re applying for. Our values are really important to us and this is what we are looking for during the recruitment process. We like people who are creative, who are not afraid to make bold decisions, and most of all, people who are committed, engaged, and have a desire to learn.

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