{"id":7688,"date":"2018-01-08T09:24:35","date_gmt":"2018-01-08T15:24:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/?p=7688"},"modified":"2018-01-08T09:24:35","modified_gmt":"2018-01-08T15:24:35","slug":"women-wings-dfw-operations-part-one-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/2018\/01\/08\/women-wings-dfw-operations-part-one-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Women With Wings: DFW Operations – Part One"},"content":{"rendered":"

From corner to corner lining every wall, desk and table, computer monitors light up the room of the Dallas-Fort\u00a0Worth\u00a0International Airport\u00a0(DFW) Virtual Control Center. The screens cover the room in a sky-blue hue while dozens of employees talk quietly over phones and headsets, and decipher the labyrinthine charts and diagrams on the glowing monitors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the DFW control center, their main function is to orchestrate the aircraft traffic coming in and out of the airport to ensure a safe, orderly operation. Like maestros conducting a symphony, the Envoy ground traffic controllers and coordinators carefully arrange the DFW ramp into a beautiful song composed of millions\u00a0of\u00a0moving parts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Together with American Airlines, Envoy controls\u00a0its\u00a0ground traffic in the newly built Control center at DFW. Within the Envoy ranks, three women with decades of experience have become Mensa-caliber puzzle masters,\u00a0piecing together a successful day of operations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In this three-part series, we\u2019ll meet a few of the women who make the \u201cheartbeat\u201d of Envoy Operations, and learn how people come together from all different backgrounds to meet a common goal.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Courtney Merrell \u2013 Coordinator of Ramp Services<\/h3>\n

\"IMG_DFW_OPS_Women_with_wings-3\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Courtney began her aviation career 30 years ago with Wings West in San Francisco, which eventually merged with other regional airlines\u00a0to form\u00a0American Eagle\u00a0Airlines, now Envoy. Since 2015, she has worked as the Coordinator of Ramp Services at DFW where she helps coordinate an open line of communication between the gates, ramp, catering,\u00a0maintenance\u00a0and fueling.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s my responsibility to build teamwork and relationships between our employees, and get everyone on the same page,\u201d said Courtney. \u201cNot only point them to the same goal, but it\u2019s my job to help them understand how we get there.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1987, Courtney wanted to join the travel industry so she enrolled in a vocational school where she could become an accredited travel agent. But before she could become one, she jumped on the opportunity to work as an operations agent for Wings West in San Francisco.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On to The Eagle<\/h3>\n

\"IMG-OPS-DFW-Courtney_Merrell-1987\"<\/a><\/p>\n

After a few years in California, Courtney began working for American\u00a0Eagle,\u00a0serving\u00a0in 11 different stations as an agent, lead agent, general manager and compliance control. She said that\u2019s how she learned to \u201cjump in and get things done\u201d no matter where she is.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of us come from the ramp or gate, so we know how to anticipate the next move in the operation,\u201d said Courtney. \u201cWe\u2019re like the heartbeat of the operation \u2013 keeping everything flowing and running smoothly.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When she arrived back in Dallas \u2013 she grew up in nearby Richardson \u2013 she was back\u00a0as one of the managers on duty in the control center, but instead of a dozen or so flights a day, she came into DFW with its 300-plus daily flights.\u00a0Even though\u00a0she’s a supervisor, she knew there were others around her with decades of experience from whom she could learn.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the years, it\u2019s her colleagues with their multitude of backgrounds and interests that have become her favorite part of the job. She also enjoys her\u00a0employee\u00a0travel privileges (she flew standby to her own wedding!), as well as the daily adventures that make each day different.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Open doors, open minds<\/h3>\n

As a woman in her role with the company, Courtney said that \u201cdoors have always been open\u201d for her, and that the flexibility of an airline job can be helpful to women with families. As a professional and a mother, she\u2019s inspired by her own mother to be a strong leader; she climbed the ladder\u00a0over the course of 29 years\u00a0at a national bank to become a senior vice president.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For the past three decades, Courtney has utilized that inspiration and prospered from her motivation to grow within the company. She\u2019s seen first-hand, regardless of gender, that there are opportunities abound at Envoy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShe inspires me because she worked her way from the bottom to the top,\u201d said Courtney about her mother. \u201cThe same can happen in this industry, at this company. All you have to do is get your foot in the door and there will be opportunities for you to grow. Depending on your interests and skills, you can always find a new challenge or career at Envoy and American.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Continued in Part Two<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From corner to corner lining every wall, desk and table, computer monitors light up the room of the Dallas-Fort\u00a0Worth\u00a0International Airport\u00a0(DFW) Virtual Control Center. The screens cover the room in a sky-blue hue while dozens of employees talk quietly over phones and headsets, and decipher the labyrinthine charts and diagrams on the glowing monitors.\u00a0 In the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":42213,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[105,64,322,65,66,77,195,144,146,173,185,86,51,68,323,324,63,90,325,326,82,83],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7688"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7688\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}