Skip to main content

Southwest Airlines Community

A Change of "Planes"

jnield
Explorer C

When I was first hired by Southwest Airlines back in September of 2009, I was told to prepare for the “Flight of your Life." They weren’t joking.
  
I realized, as I was coming up with a title for this post, how far that metaphor really runs, in light of the many career paths our people take here. Sometimes that “Flight of Your Life” has  a “change of planes” to get a person to their destination.  Sometimes, it is one of those flights that turns a person around in a completely different direction. That is exactly how my flight plan appears to be shaping up.

For the past year and a half, I have been working in Customer Support & Services, the group which makes sure our passengers are well taken care of when calling our 1-800-IFLY-SWA line. This has been a challenging, eye-opening experience, and I will miss the many wonderful people I’ve had the opportunity to work with.

So why am I “changing planes”?

When I first meet someone, they understand in the first five minutes that I am obsessed with airplanes. I could sit beside a runway for hours watching planes take off and land, and breathe in that intoxicating smell of burnt jet fuel. In fact, I was one of the people who flew to Seattle on a rainy, freezing cold day in December 2008 to watch the new Boeing 787 make its first flight. My passion for airplanes is equally shared with protecting the safety of the Passengers, Employees, and planes. I now have the opportunity to follow my dream by doing just that as a Quality Assurance Auditor in Ground Operations.  I will go to each of our airports and help Ground Ops employees ensure that our operations on the ground are running as safely as possible. As an extra bonus, I’ll be working right alongside our planes and amazing Employees almost every day!

Despite the challenges a “change of planes” brings, it presents opportunities to meet new people, see more of the world, and finally reach a destination, whether that be home, family, or that dream job. I am grateful Southwest Airlines invests into each of us a platform for success, and it is my hope we do the same for you in your travels!  I look forward to meeting y’all out there at one of our 72 airports!