DFS, the German air navigation service provider, will recruit a record number of new trainees and dual students in 2024. The existing range of traineeships and apprenticeships will be expanded to seven occupations and dual courses of study.
Over the next few years, DFS will see a large number of age-related separations. On the other hand, traffic forecasts assume an annual increase in the number of aircraft movements. This situation has prompted DFS to invest more in recruiting and training new staff.
More dual students than ever before
The DFS Air Navigation Services Academy will again reach its capacity limit for training new air traffic controllers in 2024 with an intake of 136. In addition, there will be ten dual students on the air traffic management degree programme, where students simultaneously train to become air traffic controllers and complete a degree. DFS is planning to recruit 40 more school-leavers for the dual courses of study in air navigation services engineering, information technology and aviation management, where students work and study in parallel. This will lead to a record number of students on these degree programmes. Two vocational training programmes certified by the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) will again be offered by DFS, namely one for office management and another for IT specialists for system integration. DFS is planning to recruit nine school-leavers in these areas.
Training as an investment in the future
Commenting on the training offensive, Arndt Schoenemann, CEO DFS, said: "The training of junior staff has traditionally been a top priority at DFS. Some of the job profiles we need are hard to find on the labour market and training has to be done inhouse. With the decision to invest more in our training, we are ensuring the future viability of our company." He went on to add that "we are convinced that the decision to invest in training now is the right choice for DFS in the long term."
DFS already has around 250 trainees and dual students at its Academy and working across various corporate divisions. In view of the developments on the labour market in Germany, increasing training capacity is a necessary step. DFS as employer offers new recruits an excellent launchpad to their professional life and good career prospects. The training places for the coming year are still vacant. Applications are possible as of now.
On the DFS careers page, you will find all the information you need about DFS as employer, the air traffic controller training programme and the other dual study programmes as well as those certified by the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK).
DFS Career Portal
Media contact:
Ute Otterbein
Telephone: +49 (0)6103 707-4162
Email: presse@dfs.de
DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH (DFS), the German air navigation service provider, is a State-owned company under private law with 5,600 employees as at 31 December 2022. DFS ensures the safe and punctual flow of air traffic over Germany. Around 2,200 air traffic controllers guide more than three million flights through German airspace in peak years, up to 10,000 every day. The company operates control centres in Bremen, Karlsruhe, Langen and Munich as well as control towers at the 15 designated international airports in Germany. The subsidiary, DFS Aviation Services GmbH, markets and sells products and services related to air navigation services, and provides air traffic control at nine regional airports in Germany and at Edinburgh Airport in the United Kingdom. DFS is working on the integration of drones into air traffic and has set up a joint venture, Droniq GmbH, with Deutsche Telekom. Other subsidiaries include R. Eisenschmidt GmbH, which markets publications and products for general aviation, and Kaufbeuren ATM Training GmbH (KAT), which provides training for military air traffic services personnel. The joint venture FCS Flight Calibration Services GmbH offers flight inspection services.
