Me (second from the left) with my fellow flight attendant trainees.

Back in 2009, as the nation’s economy struggled through a recession, Atlantic Southeast faced the difficult decision to furlough pilots as the demand for air travel fell. I was one of those pilots, and it wasn’t easy to leave the family I’d grown to love at Atlantic Southeast. During the furlough, I found myself working as a customer service performance leader at Chicago’s Midway airport. Although I greatly appreciated my role there and my coworkers, I really wanted to be back with Atlantic Southeast, and it just so happened that they were hiring flight attendants. I sent in my application and was welcomed into the Inflight Services group as a flight attendant trainee while on furlough as a pilot!

Just as we were finishing up emergency drills and preparing to make our first flights as trainees, I received word that the furloughed pilots were being called back to work. I was excited, but very grateful for all of the new and exciting experiences that the Inflight team had given me to make me a better pilot. When my flight attendant trainers and fellow trainees found out that I had been recalled, I was greeted by everyone with open arms and excitement for our expansion as a company and for me being able to continue pursuing my dream to fly!

After flight attendant graduation, I’ll have the wonderful opportunity to fly as a flight attendant and gain skills that will help me better understand our operation until my pilot training class begins. Experiences like this one make me proud to be a part of a company with such a very close sense of unity that provides a unique opportunity to help their fellow teammates not just grow in their workgroup, but throughout the company!

I passed my final exam last week and then headed off to Washington-Dulles Airport for my first flight as a certified flight attendant! I am very excited for my first trips as flight attendant, and now have a much more comprehensive view of my job as a pilot than ever before.