Maths graduate is flying high

Ben completed his MSc in Operational Research (OR) in 2007 at the University of Southampton and since then he hasn’t looked back.

“My MSc enabled me to join BA and has been fundamental to my career so far,” said Ben.

“Just a month after graduating I joined BA’s Operational Department as an operational research consultant. I was helping the Revenue Management Department design strategies and systems maximising revenue for the airline,” he said.

After two years in this role he spent a year’s secondment controlling the pricing and inventory for BA’s Hong Kong route as well as producing analysis to aid the company’s revenue management decision-making.

A year later and Ben was part of a continuous improvement team employed to work at Terminal 5, at Heathrow.

“There I redesigned queuing systems for the airport’s security and immigration areas. I also assessed how many security machines would be needed to handle future passenger flows,” he said.

Ben is now Revenue Management Manager managing a team of people that control the pricing and inventory for all BA’s longhaul flights out of Gatwick.

“Over the last few years I have used many of the skills I developed during my MSc including problem structuring, modelling, statistical analysis and the use of algorithms and optimisation,” he said.

“An MSc in OR opens so many doors to employment as it is highly sought after by companies. The MSc from Southampton is highly respected in the industry and the project element of the course provides an excellent opportunity to apply your OR skills to a real world problem.

“The course at Southampton is well-structured and has plenty of modules to choose from. I personally found the support of the teaching staff and quality of teaching to be excellent. A month after my course finished, almost everyone who had been looking for a job had found one.

“Southampton is a great place to study. There’s an excellent sports centre, a thriving city close by and the New Forest for exploring,” added Ben.