What is a go-around in aviation terms? According to the American Heritage on-line dictionary, a go-around is "a landing approach that fails and gives way to another attempt."
With refreshed hopes after making the decision to leave the Southwest Airlines (SWA) ramp position, I applied to the Customer Service Agent (CSA) position at SFO just days before Thanksgiving 2022. A few weeks and holidays passed before I got a nudge from a recruiter renewing my hopes of returning to SWA at the SFO station. A few months after applying, my application active and "in process" the entire time, I finally got a decision.
Due to a re-evaluation of their business plan (a.k.a. the fallout from the staffing and scheduling mishaps during the end-of-the-year holidays), the position I was being considered for was no longer open. My application was officially closed.
First go-around.
I thought that would be all I'd hear from SWA about SFO positions for some time while they re-stabilized, as most of us believed they would, given their robustness going into the holidays and their loyal following. (Case in point.)
Yet, the week before I left on a long-awaited trip to Costa Rica to celebrate my mother's 78th birthday, I got a 6 a.m. email that Southwest would be open for flight attendant applications from 10 am to 2 pm that day. And it was possible. I could do it. As a nurse, my co-hearts mentioned I was a good fit for the job. Hmmm.
I thought about the excitement of flying throughout the country and globe. I thought of all of the take-offs and landings that would get my heart pounding with joy. At the same time I pictured my kids' and spouse's sad faces as I wheeled my bag out the front door. Nope. Not now. Not until the kids are older and less interested in having me around, and they're more self-sufficient, easing my husband's load.
Second go-around.
Then, during the 9-day trip to Central America, where my mother and I assisted biologists researching and protecting critically endangered sea turtles, the third SWA opportunity arrived as a text. The full-time CSA position had been reopened. The SFO station manger hoped I was still interested in applying.
I thought hard about working with people I knew and liked, for a company I still believed in, and in an SFO terminal I loved.
The thing was, after receiving the initial email closing my application from 2022, I had gone through three rounds of interviews with Hawaiian Airlines, gotten to know and like the management team, and been offered a part-time CSA position at SFO. The hours were right and the company and station culture of family and community felt like a good fit.
Third go-around.
In the end, I felt that life had lead me to this new path and I felt that following through instead of changing paths was the right thing to do, for me and my family.
After three go-arounds with SWA, I have landed with HA. Aloha, Hawaiian Airlines!
My aviation journey continues...
(This photo: bigislandnow.com. Other photos by the author.)