Wirtschaftstandort Mönchengladbach: Ready for take off! 

It was a pleasure to welcome «Wirtschaftsstandort Mönchengladbach» for an interview. We had a great time and we are honored to be displayed in the magazine.  

Mönchengladbach. Gizem Akin’s face beams as she talks about her training. The 22-year-old is in her second year of training at the Mönchengladbach-based company Aviation Parts Services GmbH, or APS for short, which specializes in all aspects of aircraft spare parts. The industry is booming, the order books of APS are full, and that is why the young woman, who is completing her training as a wholesale and foreign trade specialist here, is never bored. “Just the right thing for me,” laughs the lively “trainee”, for whom a job at APS is “a real stroke of luck”. “I couldn’t have imagined before that an office job would suit me so well,” says Gizem Akin, who had previously wanted to train as a physiotherapist. Then, by chance, she stumbled across the offer for a training position at APS online. “The connection to aviation at APS sounded very intriguing right from the start. And I can only say that my expectations were exceeded: No day is like the other, I am constantly learning new things, and the aviation industry is incredibly exciting,” says the 22-year-old. 

 Dominik Ackers can only agree with her: The 26-year-old is training to become a warehouse logistics specialist at APS. He too found the relevant APS job advertisement on the Internet – and had the same reaction as Gizem Akin: “When I saw that the core business of APS had to do with aircraft, I was immediately hooked. Not many people can claim to have an traineeship with a company from such a cool industry,” says Ackers happily. He himself developed a great interest in everything to do with aviation from day one: “I actually ask all the time what this or that part is needed for and how it works,” says the 26-year-old. 

 
 ”Our expectations of trainees are very high”. 
Wolfgang-Dillbaum-Alexius 

For APS boss Wolfgang Dillbaum-Alexius, commitment and a thirst for knowledge, as demonstrated by Gizem Akin and Dominik Ackers, are essential qualities that trainees in his company must have. “Of course, the industry in which we operate is very exciting and thrilling. At the same time, our expectations of trainees are very high. Our company is growing continuously, but we are still a relatively small team. Here, the trainees have to lend a hand right from the start and we give them a lot of responsibility right away.” A challenge that young people like Gizem Akin and Dominik Ackers are happy to take on, but unfortunately there are far too few of their kind. “It is probably even more difficult for us than for other companies to find open-minded applicants with potential,” explains Dillbaum-Alexius, who has been training young people for around three decades. “Aviation, the machines and replacement lines, it’s a complex subject. All manuals are written in English, even correspondence with export or customs authorities is conducted in English,” the managing director points out. 

ABOUT APS 

Aviation Parts Services GmbH takes care of spare parts for a vintage aircraft as well as for a Boeing 767. The Mönchengladbach-based company has more than 40,000 spare parts on call at all times. APS has major airlines as customers, business aviation companies, regional airlines and, above all, workshops that repair smaller propeller or turbine aircraft. APS currently serves around 1,200 customers in 75 countries. In addition to the head office in Mönchengladbach, APS has branch offices in the USA, Belgium and Serbia.