Day in the life of
Airport Agent – Karen Villano
I am a seasoned airport agent. I have worked in many cities. I have worked the ticket counter, gates, and baggage. Currently, I work for AA at DFW Airport. It is a very busy place to work. There are about 700-900 agents. All schedules are bid by seniority. I have 36 years and work the morning shift from 0700-1530. We bid an area or can work As-Assigned, which could be the ticket counter or gates.
I work at a hub city with 500-900 flights a day. When we come in, we check our tasks.
We could be working at the ticket counter or the gate. If you are assigned the ticket counter (my least favorite!) but many agents prefer it, you would be helping our customers check-in. The process would be assisting with checking in bags, getting seat assignments, checking documents. Paperwork for a live animal, unaccompanied children, many other things.
The gate agents would be assigned a flight, arrivals, and departures. Meeting an inbound would consist of checking how many wheelchairs are needed, unaccompanied minors, a list of all special requests. We have to get the contractors there to assist them (hopefully they show up?). Working flights out consists of many things. This is where it gets crazy. You have an hour or less to get help customers with getting on a flight. Depending on the destination, many things need to be checked. We check in the flight crew. Get wheelchairs for folks that request it. Check all the paperwork needed.
Then we board the flight. Taking the tickets, checking the carry-on bag size and amount, making sure you are of sound mind to travel (not intoxicated). It is fast and very busy putting on 100-300 customers depending on the flight booking and airplane capacity. It can get very chaotic during the last 15 minutes prior to departure, especially at the hub city with connecting customers. Our airline shuts the door 10 minutes before departure. If the customer is not there, oh well. We have to process the stand-bys at the last minute, drop the seats of confirmed not boarded, and give to the other on the standby list that either missed their original or tiring to go on an earlier flight. When the confirmed customers show up at the gate, we have to shut the door. They get very angry.
We help them after we dispatch the aircraft. That means, checking with the Captain, all okay? Flight Attendants, have everything you need? No extra bags or customer issues. Then we go out and rebook the customers that did not make it for whatever reason.
Then we do it all over again with the next assignment. We check after every flight, where do I go next? The day goes by very fast.
It is all in a day’s work for the airline. Working in a hub is very different than a small station. I have worked in the small, medium, and now a hub city. I love my job and would not want to work at anything else, but it is challenging and also fun, I love to talk to my customers from all over the world.
Pros
We see customers from all over the world. We see happy vacation travelers, business travelers, and emergency travelers. Every walk of life, customers are sometimes distressed and harried. We see many emotions and have to deal with many things.
We get to travel all over the world. Many groups of employees travel together. Go to China for the day? Sure, Why not? Overnight in Grand Junction, CO? I have been a few times. So many places to visit, not enough time. We do not pay for a seat BUT it is Stand-by, maybe you will get on and maybe not. Have to be very flexible.
Helping our customers is a big pro for me. Customers do not understand that we have a lot of knowledge and can help when travel is disrupted for whatever reason. I have told many customers (over my 36 years). There are 2 people who care about your situation and the one trying to fix it, you are being very rude too. Most of the time they get it. And most agents really do try to help.
Another good thing is, we do not take our work home. Once the day is done, it is done. Always have stories to tell. My children always ask, What happened, today Mom? Sometimes I can remember and sometimes I forget about all the craziness we see.
Cons
Night shifts, weekends, holidays. I finally had Christmas off for the first time last year (35 years!)
Travel is very chaotic and distracting. People do not take responsibility for their travel. They do not have the correct documents, do not get to the airport in time to get to the gate, or check their bags, and the list goes on and on. Then they take out their frustrations on the employees of the airline or TSA.
We get extended when bad weather is coming and flights are getting canceled. I was extended 2 times this month due to thunderstorms and causing major disruptions. On those days we go to the service center and assist customers with travel the next day or when we can get them out. NOT FUN! Airlines do not put travelers in hotels or give out food vouchers for weather or ATC delays. As an agent we are working a minimum of 12 hours, all standing. Long days!
Standing is also a con for this job. We stand ALL day. As agents, we know the best shoes and compression socks that help.
