Early plan, plane wing span cross the skies I am,
Little man in foreign land, no way to see or plan,
Proud race, global stage, never have I seen such a place,
Daily chase in work space, daydreaming seems my common case.
– Tim
Had I remembered what it was like to be an intern or work with interns then I might have seen it coming. Having a lack of responsibility is a peculiar problem. I am in untested waters you see. The water being, working as a liberal arts student in a fully professional office work environment, at a pilot training facility. Almost all the other interns are Islamic and/or speaking Arabic. They have been given specific assignments related to their career path in engineering, finance or technical. I on the other hand have been given a role which lacks definition, thus its mine to define within the scope of the business and commercial part of aviation training. I as liberal arts student am setting a president, I am a outsider looking in, both within and without. The expectation is to learn and gather information about the work environment and business, report every week what I’ve done and come up with what I want to do in the future.
I’ve wrestled with the language, abbreviations and definitions within the airline business and training. I have fought and asked for tasks and assignments. I have put myself forward and out, tried socializing, getting to know and understand people and their role within the organization. I’ve learnt to use different office programs with great proficiency, such as Excel, Word, PowerApps and PowerPoint.
I’ve been in a few high-level meetings, I’ve been whisked around in the cauldron, yet I keep thinking. What does any of this have to do with Liberal Arts? What are the common components or characteristics among the successful here?
The “for profit option” drives most businesses in the world and here is no different, yet
Etihad was founded on the ideals of the Emirates with all that that involves, they want a great nation that’s connected to a world, that comes to the UAE. The government has invested in their national carrier with the aim to become profitable within the coming years.
Etihad is still young, 14 years old to be exact. The clever people at EAT (Etihad Aviation Training, a subsidiary) have turned the ship around in a relatively short time and their profits are increasing each year- and let me tell you, the contracts being made here are mind blowing to such a humble Liberal Arts dandy as myself. Etihad is ranked 14th in the world of commercial airlines and is the 3rd biggest in the Gulf. On its current trajectory, Etihad has a great opportunity to grow to be one of the world’s leading airlines and to set the standard for the rest of the world.
James, my boss and mentor, told me one warm starry night while we were out camping in the mountains, to stop theorizing but how does one stop theorizing when one has gotten a taste for it? In my next entry dive with me into the deep end of theorizing about aviation training.
