For me this assignment was one of the more difficult assignments. I have been asking myself for quite sometime now what I want to do when I graduate. I have recently considered switching majors to management as well as a few others. My job with National Airlines helped me to realize some things about myself and my plans for the future. First of all I learned that I am not a fan of international travel. Especially with on-demand carriers. I would like to start a family in the not so distant future and the thought of being stuck on the road in foreign countries for extended periods of time with little more then a few hours notice does not mesh well with my plans for the future. Discovering this really helped narrow down where I would like to go. I would prefer not to be on-demand and also would like to only travel domestically. This cut out most cargo companies and also most major airlines.
What I have found is that Southwest airlines seems to fit exactly what I have been looking for. Not only do they fit my plans for the future In December 2010, Southwest Airlines topped the list of the 50 best U.S. places to work by Glassdoor.com. This is only one of many awards received by Southwest Airlines. More can be seen at this site: http://www.southwest.com/html/about-southwest/history/fact-sheet.html This was supported by what I experienced when providing contract maintenance to Southwest airlines at Detroit Metro. Their pilots and staff were consistently the happiest people I dealt with. This went all the way up through management. When dealing with maintenance control there focus was always how they could help you perform your job better. They weren't there to tell you how to do it. Through this experience I began considering Southwest as my career goal.
So now as I sit and type this assignment I have sorted out my goal once again. To work towards the minimums required to apply with Southwest. ATP, 1,500 hours turbine total time, and 1,000 hours Pilot in command turbine time.
