It was hot down there.
I had been under a desk for the last fifteen minutes trying to figure out why a lamp won’t illuminate. Is the power on? Is it plugged in?
"As soon as I can get this light to work, another Cabin Services’ Employee will be ready to enjoy their new office," I thought.
I serve as one of Cabin Services’ Strategic Planning Managers and happened to be walking by when a colleague asked me to help get their desk lamp to work. This particular day was moving day, and we are combining our Provisioning and Inflight Services’ Leaders into one office area at Headquarters.
Our Strategic Planning Team coordinated the move (along with the expertise of our friends in the Facilities Department) after a major office renovation we quietly planned and executed during the last few months. Relocating workspaces for about 200 People is one of the many hats our Team has worn this past year. The Cabin Services Strategic Planning Team’s mission is to provide long-term planning and project management for Provisioning and Inflight.
My job is to help develop and implement methods designed to give our Flight Attendants and Provisioning Agents the best tools possible, so they in turn, can continuously provide even better Legendary Customer Service to our Customers. In other words: we take ideas, expand on them, make them tangible, and implement them into our operation—not too shabby for our Team of four!
When I am not under someone’s desk, we take part in planning for our 737-800 series aircraft in the event we choose to make a purchase. Another task we recently completed was determining the long-term viability of our onboard handheld devices (HHDs)—the machines we use to record drink sales on our aircraft. We work with several departments around our Company to get ideas into Inflight and Provisioning products and services up and running in the field.
Coincidentally, I celebrated my fourteenth anniversary at Southwest during this moving period. Prior to working at our Dallas Headquarters, I was a Flight Attendant based in Phoenix, Chicago-Midway, and Orlando. That front-line experience provided me with the skills, operational knowledge, and Leadership experience to serve on this Team. Our projects range from the simple and ordinary to the multifaceted and extraordinary—it just depends on the day and the endless opportunities before us. I love using my can-do-it mindset for which all Southwest Employees are known —I guess that’s why I was under a desk trying to fix a desk lamp.
By the way, can't we call an electrician?
Oh, the lamp just needs a bulb?
Never mind.
Bottom line: my job is interesting because, while I can’t figure out that a lamp simply needs a bulb, Southwest Airlines helped me find my niche—creating, developing, and implementing long range plans for Cabin Services!
