| I got my start working in the flying industry while | | | | and find that one of their aircraft was stuck at an |
| attending Ramapo College of New Jersey in the early | | | | out-base due to a snowstorm. We weren't told by |
| 1980s. At that school, they had posted an | | | | our supervisors that this was what the airline was |
| opportunity to work as a "co-op" student for an | | | | doing, but we pretty much figured it out ourselves. |
| airline based at EWR (Newark Airport, NJ). | | | | Yes, It was "real fun" handling those irate calls! |
| PEOPLExpress Airlines was the name and they | | | | While at PEOPLExpress, I witnessed some |
| needed students to handle reservations at their | | | | phenomenal growth on the airline's part. We added |
| Haynes Avenue facility, which was really the UAL | | | | San Francisco, Los Angeles, and London while I was |
| building. | | | | there plus several smaller cities. |
| For $5.00 per hour I took the bait and worked from | | | | During one month I was named "associate of the |
| February to August 1984. The job was tedious, the | | | | month" for my team because of my terrific |
| phone system antiquated, the company was a | | | | customer service skills combined with my ability to |
| calamity. Still, it was fun and I enjoyed my occasional | | | | process customers fast. Okay, so I like to remember |
| trips over to the old North hangar to watch aircraft | | | | it that way! Still, it was a helpful line to add to my |
| take off. | | | | resume and it also enabled me to gain "favor" in the |
| The reservations department was manned by other | | | | sight of management. My supervisor, Judith, was one |
| college students just like me from schools all over | | | | of the nicest of the lot too...some CSMs were real |
| New Jersey and New York City. There was even a | | | | bears! |
| team of girls who came down from Canada to staff | | | | Although it wasn't common, some students upon |
| the phones as part of their school's program. I would | | | | graduating from college got to work for |
| have loved to see what they wrote on their reports! | | | | PEOPLExpress as a Customer Service Manager [CSM]. |
| A group of reservationists would often take the first | | | | This was the fancy name for a "flight attendant" |
| flight of the day to Boston, have breakfast, and | | | | who, when not flying, was expected to pull |
| return to Newark. I think they did this on a weekly | | | | administrative duty too. Their starting pay was |
| basis and "Breakfast in Boston" became the thing to | | | | $17,000. per year, but the stock options were what |
| do although I never did. With 19 flights daily, including | | | | really made the job appealing. I am not sure how |
| some leaving every half hour, the chance of snagging | | | | employees made out when the carrier came to an |
| a flight to and from Boston was almost guaranteed. | | | | end in 1987, but I seem to recall some fairly well off |
| I learned about some of the "tricks" of the airline | | | | "twenty somethings" working for that carrier. |
| industry too while working with PEOPLExpress. For | | | | After leaving PEOPLExpress I pursued other |
| example, if bad weather was happening in Maine, the | | | | opportunities and did not return to aviation until 1992 |
| final flight from EWR would mysteriously be canceled | | | | when I started working for business aviation |
| due to some unnamed mechanical reason. | | | | operator Executive Air Fleet, Inc. Yes, that is another |
| Supposedly, the company didn't want to risk a | | | | story to tell: for another time! |
| problem with their notorious "hub and spoke" system | | | | |