I am the operations manager for Ambrion Ltd, a company based at Luton airport. Ambrion is an aircraft sales and management company and has been around for many years.

We currently operate six aircraft – two Hawker 4000s, two Challenger 605s and two Hawker 800 XPs. All aircraft are operated privately.

Although we have six aircraft, we are a small company which means getting involved in other areas not necessarily to do with aircraft operations. For example, we have several US-registered aircraft and when we acquire a new aircraft I am the person who will sort out the RVSM, MNPS, RNP10 and so on, and securing the aircraft registration.

I do get involved in maintenance scheduling, but it is not my responsibility and I am responsible for crewing. The Challengers are the only aircraft which have regular crew.

Mine is definitely a 24/7 role – there is just me! We have many important service suppliers, each one has an impact on a successful mission. From the start of the flight, if the handling company hasn't got the aircraft out of the hangar in time, or the cleaners have not done a good job on the aircraft, or the fuel is late or a car doesn't meet the passenger on time, it all has a big impact on the day. Our role is to make sure the passengers have a great flight with no hiccups or disappointments.

The biggest challenges? Apart from pilots who think that passengers should arrange their lives around the pilots? On occasions it is finding freelance pilots who are available, although that doesn't happen very often. I guess making sure that everyone else has done their job properly. No matter how well I do mine, if something goes wrong, I get the ear bending.

I love my job, I started working in aviation over 28 years ago and there has never been a time when I've groaned that I have to work. I love aeroplanes, I love the smell of them, the smell of the Jet A1, the noise and bustle of an airport. I get a great deal of satisfaction from flights going well. I love the long complicated trips when they go without a hitch. It's very rare to get a compliment from anyone – usually the only time I hear from a customer after the flight is if something has gone wrong!

It's really satisfying if we do get a problem and have to run around like one armed paper hangers and we do find a solution.

I have loved aeroplanes since the age of seven when I was at Biggin Hill air show with my parents and a Lightning did a low pass down the runway. I kind of fell into operating aircraft, I started working for Ambrion and just found my niche.

I would recommend it to a friend – as long as they don't mind interrupted evenings, not having a weekend and sometimes having to go home from an evening out to sort out a flight. It's definitely not a 9-5 job with weekends and Bank Holidays off!

No-one is indispensable. It's not a difficult job, I guess I forget how much I know and have learnt over the years until I talk to someone who doesn't have a clue how to put a flight together. Many people don't look at this as a service industry. If we don't keep our customers happy, they will go elsewhere and everyone will be out of a job.

With the advent of online flight planning, anyone can file a flight plan. Unfortunately, those with no experience don't know whether the route is sensible or the level correct and they don't have the knowledge to get out a map and work out the route from scratch. Nor do they know whether a landing permit or overflight clearance is needed, let alone how to get it! Hope this helps – back to sorting out my flights.

– Jacky Taylor, operations manager, Ambrion Ltd