I Love My Work
Tom Hill, Fleet Service Clerk, American Airlines Ramp Services
I am a person who can honestly say: ‘I love my work.’ For those of you who’ve never been around airplanes…I mean, up close, they are beautiful.
Very soon, I will have 20 years of service with American. I started in Charlotte, North Carolina and now I work at DFW Airport. My job is called ‘Fleet Service Clerk’ and I load and unload aircraft. It’s a job that’s physically demanding. We’re out in the elements – the heat and cold — making sure every item of baggage, mail and freight is properly and safely placed on the aircraft.
DFW is American’s largest station. Although this airport has many gates where wide body aircraft park — airplanes like the 777 and 767 — I like the narrow body aircraft because loading and unloading is all manual.
Sometimes, an MD-80 or 757 arrives with six or seven thousand pounds of baggage and freight on-board. My coworkers and I manually unload the aircraft and often load another six thousand pounds back on for the departure. All this happens in the space of about thirty minutes.
The job we have is the job we make it.
It is demanding work; but it’s also fun. And, the people! In many ways, it’s difficult to describe the sense of family and connection I feel for those I work alongside. I am from a small town. I was working for American the first time I heard someone speak with a Boston accent. And, I remember the first time I worked with colleagues from New York or Puerto Rico. Even though we were from different places and had different experience, we all share something in common. My coworkers have become like my extended family.
We all work together, both believing in and supporting one other.
For me, being an American Airlines Fleet Service Clerk is a perfect job and this airport is a great place to be. I started by talking about airplanes and how beautiful they are to me —but over my career I’ve learned it’s the people who make our airline special. The Value of a Clear Mission
Lillian Dukes, Vice President, Technical Services for American Eagle
My world is aircraft maintenance. I love the energy in this world; and, moreover, our role in being a connecting point between the people who fly planes, those who fix planes, and those who travel on planes. We are the glue binding these groups together. Our success is achieved through fostering a culture of safety, technological innovation and best practices. But there is another part of our world that consists of external governance and rigorous internal regulations; excellence in goal setting is a prerequisite to our ability to survive and thrive.
I am a strong believer in the importance of having a clear mission. The Aircraft Maintenance organization is busy monitoring and certifying aircraft - they are inspecting, repairing and completing a host of activities designed to prevent problems long before they manifest. Our role - in the Technical Services world - is to provide a framework of comprehensive support that enables Aircraft Maintenance to succeed. It's essential that Technical Service has real clarity about this mission.
The value of having a clear mission performs two functions within an organization:
A clear mission helps each person understand "why" the organization exists--it answers the "why I am here" question that often becomes occluded as people become inundated and overwhelmed with daily tasks and work.
A clear mission offers leaders a framework to talk openly about the values that guide the organization. Simply stated, it reminds everyone of "how we will govern ourselves at critical moments of choice."
Now, where does goal setting fit within this scheme? It is how we monitor, measure and keep everyone on track. Here is an analogy that has worked for me: Navigation is a key aspect of any flight. On a trip from Los Angeles to St. Louis, the Captain has an approved flight plan - and the mission, of course, is to arrive safely in St. Louis. Along the way, the flight plan will have "waypoints." These "waypoints" are fixed, pre-determined coordinates along the way which enable the Captain to keep the airplane on track toward the destination.
Having a clear mission is the contextual framework for successful goal setting. Simple, clear goals that are linked to a challenging mission are a tool for employee engagement. This, along with regular feedback, can propel teams to become more successful. When our colleagues know where they're going, why they're going there -- and have regular check-ups along the way -- some of the inherent stress and complexity (that is simply part of this industry) can be relieved.
