It takes about 18 months for a newly hired crew scheduler or planner to become effective. During the COVID-19 crisis, many airlines lost key personnel in these areas to layoffs and buyouts. Airlines are now struggling to respond to the rebound of travel demand. Crew staffing is a huge limitation.

You don’t have the luxury of waiting 18 months.

Lack of experience in crew staffing results in costly over- or under-staffing. I can work with you to rebuild or refine your staffing model. I can help you create the right staffing strategy for your airline.

Lack of experience in crew planning results in ineffective use of your pairing optimizer. Pairing optimization is the #1 way for crew planning to control crew costs and operational performance. My team at Southwest solved the world’s largest crew pairing optimization problem. I can help your planners learn the art and science of pairing optimization.

Lack of experience in crew scheduling results in mistakes. Costly flight delays or cancellations are bad for your brand. Scheduling mistakes erode trust between the airline and your crew.

I can help you train new staff, improve processes, and fill in knowledge gaps.

My path to leadership at Southwest Airlines began with software testing. I was a two-year crew scheduler when I volunteered to help test our new crew recovery software. I quickly learned to translate business needs to software products.

For the next 18 years, I led multiple initiatives to design, test, and implement customized crew planning, scheduling, and payroll software. Most recently, I led the initiative to modernize Southwest’s crew pairing optimizer.

For software companies:

I will bring industry expertise to help improve your product. I understand the needs and mindset of a workforce planner, crew planner, and crew scheduler.

I can evaluate your product from a prospective customer’s viewpoint. I will identify and help design new features or products that will make your product stand out.

For workforce planners:

I can help with product selection, testing, and implementation. Also, I can help train your people to use new tools.

I have experience working with both vendors and internal software teams. I have led projects to build/buy new systems, replace legacy systems, and modify systems.

At Southwest Airlines, I built our department’s first dedicated analytics team. We grew the team from two to seven in five years.

Analytics is about more than delivering reports and dashboards.

I understand the importance of identifying:

“What?”

“So What?”

“Now What?”

A stellar analytics team will provide insights and make recommendations for change,

My team implemented the use of SQL, Tableau, Alteryx, and other analytical self-service tools to build numerous dashboards, reports, and business insights to hundreds of department users.

I can help you evaluate the data elements, tools, and expertise needed to build an effective analytics function in your organization.

During my career at Southwest Airlines, I was often asked to present proposals directly to our union’s executive board. When I presented, the proposals usually passed, sometimes unanimously.

I have over 14 years of experience collaborating with a union to negotiate contract changes, settle grievances, and implement new programs.

I worked with our union to implement work rules for a new aircraft type, our first foreign language flight attendant program, and a satellite base program allowing commuting crew to work schedules from their home location.

I completed Harvard’s Program on Negotiations for Senior Executives in 2011. More recently, I completed over 100 hours in mediation and arbitration training.

For Organizations:

Many times, leaders negotiating with unions also have a “day job”. The week doesn’t have enough hours to analyze contract proposals and lead your organization.

I can help you create and analyze proposals. I have years of experience drafting contract language, grievance settlements, and letters of agreement.

I can also advise you how to improve your relationship with your union. I can help you build trust and communicate more effectively with your union.

For Unions:

Have you spent weeks working on a contract proposal, only to have it dismissed by management as “infeasible” at the negotiating table?

I can bring my experience in airline management to help you create strong, creative proposals. I can analyze your proposals to give insight into potential management objections. I can help you model costs and prepare to answer tough questions at the negotiating table.

As a neutral third party:

When tensions are high and you’re feeling stuck, it can be helpful to bring in a third party. As a trained mediator, I can facilitate union-management discussions as a neutral third party.

Acting as a mediator, I promise to maintain complete confidentiality and neutrality.

I can facilitate mediation for grievance settlements or contract negotiations.

Learn more about mediation here.