This month’s edition of Meet the Faces Behind Swissport takes a different look at the stories behind our 65,000 employees. To celebrate National Intern Day and the valuable industry experience interns gain with their respective companies, we’ve spoken to five Swissport interns.

Through our Global Internship Program, our interns are fully immersed into Swissport company culture, fostering their professional development and providing them with a pathway to a full-time role – all while instilling our standards of safety and operational excellence.

Many of our talented and hard-working interns have gone on to achieve exciting careers in their respective fields at Swissport.

Philip – an inspiring journey in aviation law

For Swissport’s aviation lovers, the buzz of the airport and the thrill of working with aircraft up close draws them to the role. For Philip, his love for aviation runs deep. “Since my father was an aeronautical engineer and I was born at an airbase in Accra, Ghana, aviation has always been part of my DNA,” he shares. Growing up, he spent time in hangars watching his father work on aircraft engines and visiting the Air Force Base School of Trade Training, where his father taught engineering students.

Though he initially joined Swissport to work in Passenger Services, Philip was given a unique opportunity to undertake an internship within the Global Legal Team alongside his frontline role. Balancing both roles was challenging, but incredibly rewarding. It gave me a holistic view of how the aviation industry functions—from the terminal to the legal office,” Philip says.

His biggest takeaway from the internship? Understanding the intricacies of airline Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and the liability clauses in the Standard Ground Handling Agreement (SGHA), and how these frameworks complement each other in aircraft ground handling.

Outside of work, you can find Phillip deep into a documentary binge, sampling his favorite beer varieties, or out on the open road listening to his drivetime playlists. “Sometimes it’s a quick one around Switzerland, other times I end up in Croatia wondering how I got there. Set navigation on, playlist on, those are the best kind weekends”, he adds.

Alicia – from Master’s student to finance intern

Internships can be an important part of a professional career. For Madrid-based Treasury intern Alicia, learning about the complexities of financial management in the fast-paced aviation sector has been an exciting experience.

Alicia currently supports the Treasury department with a wide range of tasks, from checking payments and processing transactions, to supporting with reporting processes and participating in cross-functional meetings across the business. “This exposure helps me gain a deeper understanding of treasury’s role in the business and enhances my ability to collaborate with colleagues from other department,” Alicia adds.

Having recently completed a Master’s in Corporate Finance at CUNEF University in Madrid, Alicia enjoys the sense of responsibility that her internship brings, directly applying her studies to real-world applications and further developing her financial acumen and analytical thinking.

Her advice for future interns? Take full advantage of the opportunities to learn and grow within the company. “It’s easy to hesitate when making career decisions, but joining Swissport has been one of the best decisions I’ve made. The training and continuous learning environment here is exceptional, and I’m grateful for the experience”, she adds.

Away from the office, Alicia uses her time to find balance between work and play, spending time outdoors, socializing with friends, and enjoying one of her favorite hobbies – swimming.

Andrea – first-hand HR experience at Swissport HQ

Completing an internship while studying is a great way to earn practical work experience before graduation. It can help a person stand out amongst other candidates and ultimately lead to a full-time role straight after the degree ends.

This is the experience of Zurich-based Human Resources intern Andrea. Currently studying psychology at the University of Bern, she has also been gaining first-hand experience of people management at an organization with more than 62,000 global employees.

Andrea has always been interested in mental health and wellbeing, and she decided that “work makes up such a big part of all of our lives, I wanted to experience first-hand how a human resources department can make an impact for the better”. This direct experience during the internship was the moment things really clicked for Andrea, tackling new challenges in a supportive environment.

The candidate assessments were the biggest learning curve of all. Andrea adds “conducting the process that gets people into positions that are a good fit for them can involve tough conversations if a candidate is rejected, but also big moments of joy if you can offer a position to someone that worked really hard for it”.

The internship has also helped Andrea realize that some of the skills learned in other areas of her life are transferrable to work. She believes the internship “also helped me sharpen my communication skills: how to be clear and precise, in the most benevolent way possible”.

While not her first professional experience, Andrea believes that Swissport’s dedication to its company values and supportive colleagues sets it apart from other businesses. Getting up to close to the operations helped broaden her experience further, and if Andrea could swap jobs with anyone at Swissport, she would choose the ramp agent out of respect to their hard work in challenging conditions.

Adam – Supporting Swissport UK&I with HR and Social Responsibility Initiatives

Similar to Andrea, UK-based Adam is exploring a HR and communications internship with Swissport, at their regional head office at Runcorn in the North West of England.

Having recently graduated from Liverpool John Moores University with a degree in Sports Business, Adam’s current role focuses are on developing internal communication materials, helping projects related to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) while also researching further opportunities in relation to CSR and other HR administrative tasks.

Adam told us that his motivation for applying to the internship program was to make “a positive impact on people. I knew this role would entail helping others, raising awareness and highlighting different initiatives surrounding people, the planet and policies so it seemed like a great way to positively impact people’s lives and ensure they felt like they were getting the necessary support from Swissport”.

Adam has quickly become involved with many of Swissport’s key sustainability initiatives, such as the UK&I Head Office Pride celebration and our Plastic-Free July campaign, where he created infographics to highlight to other Swissport colleagues how they can reduce plastic waste.

The most rewarding experience has been the impact on people’s lives. “Whether it be supporting projects centered around mental health and how our colleague can access our amazing Mental Health First Aiders, or CSR community and charity initiatives, it is enjoyable to see how much of an impact some of our colleagues have on local communities and people,” Adam adds.

Tan – from ramp agent to IT intern

Swissport offers all of its employees the opportunity to apply their skills in roles that best suit their career aspirations; internships can often be a pathway for this. With a huge passion for aviation, Brisbane-based Tan joined Swissport as a ramp agent before finding an opportunity within the Asia-Pacific (APAC) IT team.

Originally from Vietnam, Tan came to Australia to study and pursue a career in IT. An internship within the helpdesk and support teams has helped connect his two major interests – computing and aircraft. Tan believes that his time on the ramp at Brisbane International shaped his internship. Here, he learned the importance of teamwork, communication, and work under pressure.

During his internship, Tan gained experience with device configuration, system troubleshooting, using tools like Halo, and Microsoft Azure, and working with SQL for database queries. But the biggest challenge? Replacing devices over 8 years old across Swissport locations in Australia and New Zealand. For Tan, this involved “preparing, configuring, and deploying new hardware to ensure a smooth transition. I also provided technical support to users and helped with any technical issues.” 

Following the success of his internship, Tan is now a full-time member of the Swissport APAC IT team. “The most rewarding part about my current role is being able to solve problems and make a real impact on day-to-day operations. It’s great to know that the support I provide helps everyone across Australia and New Zealand,” he adds.

Away from work, Tan aspires to become a pilot one day. He enjoys sports such as badminton and basketball, and he would swap jobs with Swissport CEO Warwick Brady for the day – experiencing Swissport through the eyes of its top decision-maker.

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We wish all of our interns the best of luck as they progress in their careers, and encourage all talented candidates at any stage of their career to consider applying through Swissport’s Global Internship Program.

Stay tuned for more stories in our Meet the Faces Behind Swissport series, where we showcase the incredible people behind our business. Want to see what life at Swissport is like? Visit Our People to learn more.