Spotlight on Women at Serco: Niomi Jackson, RAF Brize Norton.

Niomi Jackson , Senior Handler for Ramp Services at RAF Brize Norton shares why she’s an ‘aircraft nerd,’ and how she became the first female Ramp Handler at the site.

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Tell us about what a typical day looks like for you?

Every day is different but most of our tasking revolves around aircraft, either assisting the squadrons in moving aircraft from bay to bay or providing services for aircraft visiting the station. That can be anything from marshalling and de-icing to booking hotels for the crew. As a Senior Handler, I supervise a team tasked with a specific job such as seeing off a visiting aircraft, making sure the area is clear and safe, and everything is good to go.

We have to be reactive on shift and although there are some tasks planned in ahead of time, we have to adapt to emergency diverts and everything can change at the drop of a hat when the phone rings.

How did you get into this line of work?

My Dad was in the RAF as an engineer and raised me to be a spotter. I even joined the air cadets at Brize Norton going around the same areas I’m working in now. Living next to the base you get an appreciation of the cool jobs that people do here, and it caught my interest growing up.

I wanted to be in the RAF as a teenager but for one reason or another, I didn’t think it would be attainable and I wasn’t sure how to get into it. I completed my degree and then I was looking for a job when I saw a vacancy for an aircraft cleaner and went from there.

So I started as an aircraft cleaner and bounced back and forth between different jobs until I wound up in the training department of a military contractor. I learned a lot there, but it wasn’t what I wanted to do. I liked being outdoors rather than working in an office. Someone I knew was going to do work experience at Ramp Services, so I decided to give it a go too.

I came in on my spare time to observe and learn how things worked. There were no women at Ramp Services at that point and I was one of the youngest people there but that didn’t bother me. There was such a big pool of experience to learn from. Then there was a vacancy that came up four years ago, I applied for it and officially started at Ramp Services in 2020.

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What is your favourite part of the job?

Definitely the aircraft – I’m a nerd! I love that every day is different, and you really do get to see and do some very surreal things. There’s always something to keep your interest.

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What would you say was your career highlight to date?

My favourite plane is the An-225. It was the largest aircraft in the world, designed to transport the Buran (Soviet space shuttle) in the 80s but was repurposed as a freighter. We had 100s of people travelling from all over the country to see this aircraft and we were with it for most of the day while it was here.

The crew filmed the arrival for their YouTube channel, which included footage of me marshalling the aircraft to a stop – you can’t tell it’s me because I look so tiny down on the ground, but it’s great to be able to revisit that moment. Unfortunately, the An-225 was destroyed less than a year later near Kyiv during the invasion of Ukraine. In hindsight it was an amazing experience to see the aircraft while it was still possible.

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There are 400 Serco Employees at Brize Norton, what is it like working on a site where there are MOD and Serco colleagues?

Most of the time we interact with a relatively small number of people, considering the size of the site, and tend to work with the same few other sections. It often feels like we’re an extension of the RAF as we work closely alongside military personnel, as well as other contractors. Everyone mostly knows each other and we’re on the same page.

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What is next on your career path?

I’d love to continue doing what I’m doing in Ramp Services. I really enjoy being a Senior Handler and hopefully one day in the future I can progress to running a shift. And if they ever rebuild an An-225 I’d love to be around to see it!