Career opportunities in the UK aerospace industry

Healthy orders, cutting-edge technology, and the prospect of high growth: these are good times for the aerospace industry. Although defence aerospace has suffered from spending cuts and will increasingly depend on exports in the immediate future, civil aerospace came through the recession almost unaffected, with orders and jobs maintained.

The outlook is even more positive. ’We’re entering a period of high growth, fuelled by China, Brazil, India and the Middle East,’ said Graham Chisnall, managing director for AeroSpace and Operations at industry association ADS. ’There’s virtually insatiable demand for airliners.’

The UK is very well-placed in the global aerospace industry. ’It’s not well-enough known that the UK has the number-one aerospace sector by revenue in Europe,’ Chisnall continued, ’and we’re number two in the world, behind the US.’

In a highly technology-driven sector, the UK is at the forefront, with companies such as Rolls-Royce, Airbus and Bombardier pioneering and commercialising extremely advanced technology in aero engines and structures. Others offer advanced systems capability, such as Messier Dowty, which builds the undercarriage for the latest Airbus A350 in the UK, and GE Aerospace.