Hey everyone!

I realize it’s been a month since I’ve last written, but it’s been a busy month! I started my internship with Alaska Airlines on May 31st, and have been working full time ever since. I am officially halfway done with the internship, and I can’t believe it’s gone by so fast! I have been loving every minute of it.

Most of the things I am working on are day-to-day type work, which I cannot say much about. However, I also worked on a benchmarking project, and have been helping my manager out with some of his projects.

One of my favorite things I have done so far is taken a Capacity Planning class. It was a full day class, which was an overview of airline capacity planning. It included network planning, scheduling, and strategy. One of the reasons I liked it so much was because any employee from Alaska Airlines could sign up to attend. I was able to meet flight attendants, gate agents, mechanics, and other corporate employees. The class started off with a surprise tour of the Boeing Renton Factory, which is not open to the public. This location is where Boeing manufactures all of their 737s. It just so happened that Alaska Airlines had an airplane that was being manufactured while we were on the tour! After the tour, we went back to Alaska Airlines headquarters to get back to class. One of the activities involved getting into groups and creating a new market for Alaska Airlines to fly, theoretically. It was interesting to see the data behind why (or why not) the market we came up with would be profitable.

Boeing Renton Factory

Another one of my favorite events has been the maintenance tour. As interns, we all got to go for a tour of the Alaska Maintenance Hangar at Sea-Tac. There was a brand new 737-900ER delivery in the hangar that day, so we got to take pictures of it, as well as go on board. I always love the new airplane smell! We were able to see where they store all of the parts for the planes, as well as how they do engine maintenance. But my favorite part of the tour was getting to go on board the 737-400 Combi. This is an aircraft that is very unique. It holds 4 huge cargo boxes in the front of the aircraft, just behind the cockpit, and 76 passengers in the rear. It is used to fly up to Alaska, where it delivers a lot of food to the towns. They will soon be retiring, so it was awesome to get to go inside of one before they disappear.

Some of the AS interns with the new delivery in the hangar

Standing in front of the 737-900ER engine

Inside the 737-400 Combi cargo area

At the halfway point of my internship, I can honestly say Alaska Airlines is a great place to work. The company is doing well and adding new and exciting markets to their network. They also have some of the best employees in the business. I am so grateful to have this opportunity to work at such an awesome company, and learn from some of the best.

Until next time,

Lindsey