So it’s been like 2 weeks since the semester started here at ERAU and I am already tired. I have had so many things to do and my house is still not fixed so it is just getting tiring. Thank god for the people that are letting me stay at their places, seriously, I would have not known what to do without them. Anyways, enough about the downer mood.

Classes are off to a great start. I am only taking 4 of them since they are the only ones required in order for me to graduate from every program I’m doing (AS major and ATM minor). The only classes I have Tuesdays and Thursdays are Air Traffic Management labs which are fun because you get to see flights and “control” them from an ATC perspective rather than inside the cockpit. Another is Personality and Profiling, which we are looking into criminal profiling. I like to think of it like a “Criminal Minds” class so that’s pretty cool. The last class is going to be the most fun I think as it is my Airline Crew operations class, which is the class that we get to “get our feet wet” with big airline part 121 operations. The cool thing is that we get to fly the Airbus A320 full motion Level D Sim at U.S. Airways. This time is time that I believe that we could log into our log books giving us a little bit of an advantage of knowledge over other people. The homework is not bad but then again its homework I want to do because I want to learn more.

I like the way that this semester has started so far, well not counting the house problem. Everything Embry-Riddle however, has been really cool and really fun and I look forward to a good if not great semester.

So it is that time of year where I have to return to Embry-Riddle for school. This will be my last semester and I am so glad that the classes I have are going to be for the most part easy but very interesting and enjoyable. These include my last 2 Air Traffic Control labs, Airline Crew Operations, and Personality and profiling. I am also going to be doing my Certified Flight Instructor license with the hope of being hired at ERAU as an instructor pilot.

As you know, I had to drive back from Denver, CO. It’s not a bad drive, only 12-14 hours. I got back to Prescott and found out that 3 pipes had burst in my house flooding half of it. The leasing company had been working on it but it is not done in time for school. So for now, I have to shack up with a friend of mine.

That’s one thing I want to emphasize about ERAU. There are so many great people here that you will meet and be friends for life. As soon as I told my friends about my house, at least 3 people offered their place to me. Everyone is so willing to get out of the way to help you that it still makes me feel welcomed here at ERAU even after 4 years of being here. I am really glad that this school attracts such great characters from all traits that will be life long relationships.

Anyways, I really hope my house gets fixed soon. As for now, it’s time to prepare for the first week of school.

After a long, hard semester at Embry-Riddle, I was finally able to complete it with a 3.575 GPA. I was hoping for a 4.0 but the classes I took were very challenging but really interesting. This time, I took Flight Safety with one of the best professor here, Sean Jeralds, Airline Dispatch operations, Flight Instructor Ground School (CFI), and Air Traffic Management 3.  Dispatch and CFI ground school were the hardest classes. They demanded a lot of work and time but the knowledge gained from them were incredible. Now I am able to go and get certified as a Flight Dispatcher, a great back up if I am not able to fly for some reason or another, and all I have left to do is do my CFI flight training to be able to instruct. Only got one more semester left and my plan is to finish my CFI and get hired at Embry-Riddle to build my flight hours and eventually move onto the airlines.

Being back home in Denver is nice. Only a 12 -hour drive from Prescott means that I could drive home which is nice because then I am able to have my own means of transportation. Can’t wait until I go up into the mountains and snowboard. It’s nice to have this 3-week break before I start on my last semester at ERAU. It’s going to be a great one.

Delta Air Lines, Inc. has been a world of opportunity that I have been privileged to work with and for. It is with a heavy heart that I leave this company after such a short time but I have other duties to fulfill as a student and hopefully, someday, I will be back as a pilot for this wonderful company. For now however, I leave this company excited for the future and with a forever burning passion for the world of aviation. Overall, this internship has an opportunity of a lifetime.
worked with me at Delta Air Lines to help me succeed at my position.

To begin with, I first got to Delta Air Lines, Inc. by working hard, pursuing my dream of flying for a major airline, and setting my goals in advance. Since I first heard of the Delta Air Lines internship, I was driven and determined to try my best to become part of the Delta Legacy. I kept on working hard and checking the Delta careers website every week for an update and a posting of the application to their summer internship. I remembered that in the fall when I met the then current intern for Flight/Line Operations at Delta, and he told me that I had to get in contact with my Career services advisor to get in touch with Delta. I did just that as soon as the internship posted. He had just seen the new posting when he received my email. Immediately we got the process going. I gathered letters of recommendations, transcripts, resumes, copies of my flight certificates, cover letters, and reference sheets to mail off to Delta. Within two days I had everything put together. I must thank my advisors and anyone who helped me in writing very generous letters of recommendations. I sent my packet in via email and mail and the wait begun.

It was a long wait before I got the call for a telephone interview. This didn’t happen before emailing my career services advisor about what I should do since I hadn’t heard back from Delta during the much needed spring break. Literally the Monday after spring break, I got a phone call. I was in the middle of a pre brief before a flight when I received the call. I didn’t answer then since I was about to go fly but right after I checked my voicemail. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was driving home and as soon as I heard that they wanted to set up a telephone interview, I didn’t know what to do with myself. I was screaming with joy and was literally bouncing in my seat with excitement. I even texted my flight instructor to let him know what the call during our brief was about. I called back immediately but since Prescott, AZ was 3 hours behind at the time, it was past business time in Atlanta. I didn’t leave a voicemail but I decided to set my alarm at 5:30am the next day so I could prepare myself and call Delta at 9:00am eastern time, 6:00am Prescott time, to talk and set up a telephone interview. I called and set it up. It was set for a Monday a week away from the call.

I began to gather as much info as I could and began to prepare myself for this. If I didn’t pass this, I was done for and would not get offered a personal interview, let alone a position as an intern. The date came and I had a flight. I made sure that my instructor knew that I was not available to fly during my times of the telephone interview but we still managed to squeeze a flight in before. I got back and sat in my car waiting for the call. It was set 12:30pm and right at 12:30pm, my phone rings. It was a text form my brother asking a random question. After my anxiousness went away, and after telling my brother I would call him in a bit, my telephone rings. This was the real deal. Five people took part on this interview. Pedro Coracides, Laura Parnell, John Reese, Justin McCollum, and Jason Schlup. The phone call went well but I stuttered quite a bit. I do have a stuttering problem that I have learned how to manage but that day it was coming back out. After I was mentioned that I was really nervous and stuttering quite a bit, it was all ok. I was speaking, still slightly stuttering, but making sense. Nevertheless, after the telephone interview, I still felt like I could have done better even though I felt that I had given it my best.

I wait overnight and sure enough, the very next day, I get a call in the morning and it was Delta. They were offering me a chance for a personal interview. I gave them dates that I could travel and then waited for them to call me back to confirm my interview date. It was finally set for April 14th. Meanwhile, I began to prepare myself for the next and final step to possibly getting to my goal that I set myself for the summer; an internship at Delta Air Lines, Inc. I remember that they day of my trip, I mentioned to a few friends that I didn’t want to go anymore because I was so scared. After a little talking, I got the courage to finally get into my car and drive to Phoenix (I was still going to go regardless whether I had the courage or not, I was just really scared). I travel, get to Atlanta, and finally meet Justin McCollum. He picked me up from the airport and took back to the Delta Air Lines, Inc. World Headquarters. I sat in my future cubicle and waited for my interview. Finally it was underway. I was as sincere and straight as possible. I admitted my mistakes with previous positions that I have held but turned them into a learning experience. I spoke as best as I could, and enjoyed the interview. Afterwards however, I felt a little uneasy. Even though I thought I did a fairly good job, I was feeling really anxious. I could not tell whether it was going to be a great outcome or not. We went into a simulator afterwards and relaxed a bit. Soon after, and by that I mean a four hour flight later, I was back in Phoenix. The drive back to Prescott was rewarding. I was being really optimistic and telling myself that even if I didn’t get the internship, I gave it my best. It was still very nerve racking nevertheless.

It was a week later and I was having lunch with my friend when I got a call from and unknown number. I immediately new it was Delta. I picked up and almost choked on the food that I was eating with the news I heard. I was offered the internship! Right away, I accepted it. I called my parents, bother, everyone I could think off to spread the good news! I was so excited I again couldn’t contain myself. After all the joy and celebration, it was time to prepare for the internship. I found a place to live, got my stuff ready, and made my way to Atlanta. Of course, this wasn’t after stopping by Denver to visit my home, family and friends. I finally made it to Atlanta and the first day of the internship began. I realize that the first couple of pages did not prove or discuss anything from the required points that the Internship Student Handbook said however, it was important to set the mood of the paper to understand what my attitude was coming into this internship. This will be compared to my final attitude of the internship.

The internship began and the first feeling I got from it was, “Oh my goodness, this is going to be interesting.” By this I mean that we were getting the fire hose training course and soon I realized that this job was not one that I could just sit back and let things happen. This was going to be a job that I had to be immersed in the middle of the mayhem of paperwork, long days, stress, overload, and passion for the world of aviation. My duties consisted of doing Jumpseat authorization letters, assisting the 767/757 fleet managers with any task necessary, assisting in new approach testing, at the beginning before they went automated Israeli smart cards, and aiding in Pilot Selection.

At first, the internship was pretty straightforward and easy for what I had to do. Mostly paperwork and office duties so nothing too complicated. In fact, I was a little jealous how one of the other interns got to be the point of contact and give simulator tours, and the other got to do approach testing in the simulators for a project. I thought to myself on why do the other inters get a cooler job than me? This was of course before my main task for the summer started, aiding with Pilot Selection. Before that however, I began by doing Israeli Smart Cards.

Every Captain for any Delta flight flying into Israel must be registered with the Israeli government before they takeoff. They do this by activation their Israeli Smart Card. The way that the pilots use this card is, whenever they are approaching Israeli airspace, they call in for a clearance. His/Her clearance will include items like flight number, name of the Captain, destination, and Israeli Smart Card registration number. Once the pilots give them their number, this lets the Israeli government know that the flight is under control and that not this is unusual and no threat of terrorism. This was a simple task but nevertheless important. I worked with Andrew Fellers, Special Assignments Supervisor and 767 Pilot for Delta Air Lines, Inc. in which he guided me, helped me, and gave me insightful and positive criticism throughout my duties. A special assignment supervisor (SAS) is a pilot for Delta that also likes to be in an office and work more regular hours for personal or other reasons. This will be discussed later as this paper concludes. Staying organized was very important in this task and I am glad that learning this skill at Embry-Riddle helped me in this. I was also able to exercise self-supervision and Andrew Fellers has way too many things in his plate to be holding my hand through the process. Of course, if I had any questions, Andrew was always available for help. The few times that he wasn’t, he asked his boss to fill in and he also gladly helped me out.

An on going task that I have had throughout my entire internship has been processing Jumpseat Letters of Authorization from the Chief Pilot and V.P. of Flying Operations Capt. Jim Graham. I was in charge of getting the paperwork ready for processing, process it, and input it into the system. It was very simple but when you consider the facts that there are many people who want to jumpseat but don’t have the proper authorization, some that want to jumpseat don’t have enough sponsorship, or some that shouldn’t even be requesting privileges, this task becomes a little complicated. I had to use all the knowledge and decision making on how to go about processing certain letters and also playing a little of the office politics on figuring out who was going to sponsor certain letters. Nothing damaging or deceiving, just knowing when to step away from a situation and letting higher management take care of some issues.

An example of this was this one individual who was requesting the jumpseat but did not work for Flight Operations. The rules state that anyone working at Flight Ops is entitled to jumpseat privileges but other employees needed to have a purpose for their request. This individual, who did not work for Flight Ops, was so persistent and demanding about his letter that I elevated the issue with my boss, Laura Parnell, who then in turn spoke with his boss. In the end, he was finally granted privileges but before I could put his information into the system and file a copy of his letter, he took his letter of my desk when I was not there and walked away. I found out about this and called him on his cell phone and asked him to bring the letter back. He did, and I filled it and entered his information and he finally went his way. My co-workers heard me on this and after the individual left, congratulated me on how good of a job I did sticking to the right rules and doing it in a professional manner. This was all done on my own supervision and I felt that my co-workers noticing reinforced the trust that they have in me to supervise myself in later projects. This was great preparation to my biggest project of the summer.

Pilot Selection began on June 23 by having the first eight candidates interview for a position as a pilot for Delta Air Lines, Inc. Five made it out of that and now they are waiting for August 16 to come for their new hire class to start.

I wasn’t be involved in any of the decision making process but I was involved in keeping track of the candidates, making sure that their paperwork is in place, and administer the MMPI-2 test for the candidates that have been given a conditional job offer. I got to be part of the unique opportunity of how the interview process occurs at Delta and a huge insight on possible career paths that will hopefully eventually lead me back to Delta but this time as a pilot.

This task was the one that I was most involved in and got the most from. During this project, I took direction from the Pilot Selection Manager with tasks big or small. Tasks such as making a sing for the office or as much as taking full control of day 2 of interviewing for the candidates that passed day 1. Day 2 of interviewing consisted of the physical and psychological testing mentioned earlier but the point to this is the I was given full authority to coordinate shuttles/rides, plan the schedule, supervise the new pilot hires, make decisions on operational issues, and propose solutions to improving the system or dealing with problems.

My job as a Senior Tour Guide at Embry-Riddle and my classes in business administration also at Embry-Riddle prepared me in the organization, planning, and coordination of all the events of Day 2. The business class helped me because I used a model that I learned in my BA201 class with Mr. Richard Gibson that helped plan projects out for completion. The only difference is that the project had to be complete in one day (Day 2). This was really useful because I came up with scenarios for the many situations that could occur as just used their model for the different days.

During that month long process, there were several problems that had to be dealt with in order to get the interview process to run smoother. The first one was with the contract shuttle that was used for taking the pilots from place to place. Form the beginning, there was no flexibility in the pick up schedule. The main point of contact was never into the project, never paid attention, and never communicated with his own staff. There were a couple of events that I had to elevate to my supervisor because they were just not up to the quality, service, and flexibility that we needed. Also, the main point of contact was not the professional type leading to several disagreements between him and me. Luckily, I saved every voicemail, and email and when to my boss, Laura, about it, who had also dealt with this issue with him before, I was able to back my case up for the good of the company. The entire shuttle service was running well except for this one individual. My proposition was to take him out of the process and have me deal with the shuttle dispatch directly. After it was approved, many of these issues went away. There were still two occasions where there were technical issues that were out of our control but we both worked together to make the day work.

Another issue was the pilots’ physical appointments. They were scheduled for 1 hour each but began to notice that some were taking up to 3 hours for no reason at all. After 2 days of this, me and another intern went to the clinic to speak with the coordinators there to figure out a better way to go about the physicals. We didn’t go and accuse them of anything but instead we just went create suggestions and solutions for everyone. I was a little scared about this since I had no time to ask my boss whether it was ok for me to talk to them or not but it turned out to be one of my best decisions at Delta. All the wrinkles were ironed out and we had no further problems with this.

The last major issue was the way that the files were being kept for any pilot being interviewed. Some paperwork was missing, some in the wrong files that I was afraid of some candidates or Delta be put in a position they do not want to be. I brought this problem up to my boss and the manager of Pilot Selection, Capt. Paul Repp, and I decided to do a huge audit of every file, organize them, and then send them over to Human Resources for processing. Even though this was a great plan, moving all of the files still cause some power struggle issues where the interns were stuck in the middle. I get a call one morning during the MMPI-2 test for the new hires. It was the HR personnel in charge of pilot hiring demanding the files back to her office. I told her that I needed to get prior approval from my boss but yet, she still wanted them in her office. My boss was out of the office that day so she said that she was going to call the Chief Pilot and V.P. of Flying Operations Capt. Jim Graham to get approval. I told her that whatever he said it was between them, and that I was just following directions. Turns out she never called him but instead call his Administrative Assistant and told her to tell the other interns to bring the files down to HR. The other inters talked to one of our supervisors who then called our on her cell phone and told her everything. In the end, our boss and the HR representative met and they discussed what we were doing with the files and what was going to happen to them.

I was very surprised with the level of respect, authority, self-empowerment, and responsibility that I was given in this project. My training as a Tour Guide and my business classes definitely help me play the politics well on this and helped me excel in situations that I had never been put before. I was so involved and knowledgeable in this process that my boss wants me to come back when they do their Pilot Selection de-brief to talk and suggest improvements. I essentially have an opinion of the Delta Pilot Selection Process for future interviews.

Right after Pilot Selection, I began to work on the simulator project that I had discussed in my mid-term report. The project was to build training scenarios with simulator technicians and instructors and then load them into the FMS for the Boeing 767-400 aircraft Level-D Simulator. I would have not been able to complete this project if it wasn’t for my classes in Domestic and International Navigation with Paul Amen, and my Electronic Flight Management class with Ray Bedard. It was really cool to see everything that I thought was confusing in class in action. It was like seeing the pieces from a puzzle fall together into place. My abilities in doing such allowed me to complete the project in 2 days and ready for review by the required personnel and ultimately the FAA for approval. I had a lot of fun with this and I further understood international flight plans and FMS databases. I also able to exercise my skill with the FMS as I helped one of the other interns with her RNAV approach testing.

One privilege that I got to have was jumpseating. I jumpseated everywhere in the country to cities like Seattle, Salt Lake City, Detroit, Denver, San Juan, PR, Buffalo, and Atlanta. Going to these many different cities, I was able to jumpseat of aircraft like Boeing-737, 757, 767, and 777 and the Airbus 320. The coolest part about all this was being able to apply all of my instrument training, flying knowledge, FMS knowledge, and just basic common sense to the operation of a flight. I was also able to get a huge insight on how an airline pilot thinks, always thinking about the passengers and the safe completion of the flight. Also, being able to jumpseat on many different aircraft allowed me to see that similarities and differences in procedures. Of course the buttons and the flows are a little different per aircraft but the theory is the same. Read verify method with a challenge and a correct response, made it seem really similar to the way that Embry-Riddle does its checklists.

Overall, the internship was really fun and very educational. The biggest con was that it was so short, and the biggest pro was how involved interns are in day-to-day operations. Of course the travel benefits were amazing allowing me to travel for the first time to the Eastern Hemisphere to places like Madrid, Amsterdam, Tel Aviv, and Munich. Among others were Cancun, Cabo San Lucas, Cozumel, New York, and San Francisco.

This internship has made me slightly re-evaluate ways that I will achieve my goals of being an airline pilot. I have begun to look at the possibility of the Air National Guard, reinforced me getting my CFI/II, and rekindle my passion for aviation. People like Paul Repp, Laura Parnell, Beth Poole, Rossane McGuiness, Ed Geiger, Baker Stearns, Pat Guilfoil, Dean McGregor, Jon Martin, Pedro Coracides, and Jeff Anderson really helped me a lot make the most of my internship. I am really going to miss this job but I promise that I will be back to Delta Air Lines, Inc. or an equivalent airline of the same stature as this wonderful company. I leave this company excited for the future and with a forever burning passion for the world of aviation. Overall, this internship was an opportunity of a lifetime.

So I am writing this on my iPod on the way back to Atlanta. Kinda cool how the Notes application can be so helpful. Anyways week two went by and it was fun, finally got my log in information so I could do my duties on my account and computer rather than have to borrow somebody else’s. I am now getting into the full swing of things doing most if my duties without asking a log of questions and not screwing it up. It’s a little weird since I sometimes take a while to get things but I guess I’m just that good, lol. Actually I wouldn’t be surprised if someone catches a mistake that I did and comes talk to me in the near future.

The best part about the week was talking to our co-workers about our trip to Madrid. They were all impressed. On how the brand new interns were able to go all the way to Spain and back and still make it to work right on time. The extra vacation day did help us to get back.

We got to hop in the simulators again so that was really cool about the second week. I’ve also got assigned a new job, which is help build training scenarios to load in the FMS for the Boeing 767ER Sim. I would have training and oversight but it would be mainly my project. It hasn’t started yet but I’m looking forward to it.

Besides that, I traveled to Denver for the weekend. It was my mom’s 50th birthday party and i couldn’t miss that. It was 60s 70s themed so it was really cool. She had a bunch of her friends over, even people that she hasn’t seen in years! We all had to dress up in that era’s styles so I went to the thrift store, naturally an hour before the party, and got some random stuff (see the picture, it says enough, lol).

Last minute outfit!

But it was fun, facing, drinking, and family fun! It’s over now. We are on approach into Atlanta and I have work tomorrow. It’s ok though, work is fun and then comes the weekend! Looking into going to the Caribbean but we’ll see what happens.

Guess where we got to go last weekend!? Not Buenos Aires, not Dublin, and not even Barcelona but we were able to got to Madrid, Spain! It was a last minute thing. Both Barcelona and Dublin closed up and we didn’t want to pay the $135 visa in Buenos Aires so we looked a lot and noticed that Madrid was open!…barely.

It was a scramble at work finding the best flight possible. We even thought Copenhagen but we were a little too late on the check in so we still decided to take out chances with Madrid. We were at the gate hoping for a seat until a huge storm hit and delayed the flight. This meant that people that were flying into Atlanta were in holding patterns making them miss their flights and some seats opened up for us! We got coach class, which was fine, but man it was, a long 8-hour flight.

Anyways, we finally get there and make our way to the nearest information kiosk to learn on what there is to do around the city, and also to find our hotel. Since I am the only one that knows how to speak Spanish out of out intern group, I had to be a sort of tour guide for all of us. I haven’t spoken Spanish like that in a while and Spain has a different dialect so it knew it was going to be a little tough.

I walk up to the lady and actually did a pretty good job! I did stutter a bit but was able to communicate like a regular person. I was happy! Anyways, we found what we were looking for and now the trip from the airport to the hotel. We climbed on the correct bus but due to my infinite wisdom, got off one stop too early. I felt really bad since it was my fault but my group was really chill about it. We made it to the stop where we connected with the subway (metro in Spain) and got off at the right stop this time. It was a 10-minute walk, but nevertheless, a nice one. It felt like I was back in Colombia as the streets looked really similar to where I grew up.

We get to the hotel, got our room, and damn, it was nice! They only thing is that they were smaller. For a second I thought I had gone to Tokyo instead of Spain. But then again, I don’t think Europe has the obesity epidemic as Europe does so that’s probably why the rooms were smaller. Nevertheless, the room was very comfortable. We quickly showered and went straight out to the middle of town.

We got off at the Plaza del Sol where we found a place to eat fast since we had not had anything to eat in hours. So we find a place and get drinks and French fries or so we thought. Lady brings us some potato chips. So there we were, drinking sangria and eating potato chips. We looked ridiculous. After some good laughs and constant making fun of people, we walked around the city and stopped at some nice stores then walked over to Plaza Major where we saw a lone bag in the middle of the square with a Spiderman in it.

This was sketchy because we thought it was a bomb or something but it wasn’t; it was something worse. It was a fat guy in a tight Spiderman suit. The most disturbing thing we have ever seen but we still had to pose with him just to remember the moment.

After our superhero encounter (second for mine – remember superman from my drive to Atlanta entry?), we walked around the Plaza, made our way to the Royal Palace, and hopped back on the Metro because it was time for the highlight of the night, the Bullfight.

We get to the arena and I have to scavenge tickets from a random guy outside which we were all afraid that were not going to work but they did so we were happy. I have to brag though, me being able to speak Spanish helped a lot so I felt like a badass in front of my friends! We get to our seats and man they are small concrete slabs and right next to each other! It was like being in the New York Subway during rush hour. It was a fun time though.

The best part is that my friends that I was with had no idea that bulls were going to die and/or people get hurt. They were all freaking out once they found out and saw blood. Don’t get me wrong, I love animals, but while I was there, it had the most surreal feeling. It’s like I new it was wrong but I was not feeling sorry for the bulls. It was weird.

On the way out, we ran into the Delta Air Lines crew that flew us into Madrid. It was really cool because he captain told us some great things to do and check out. He also invited us to come and fly his planes with him once he gets back from his trips. We need to email him tomorrow when we are all at the office and see that he says.

Anyways, we made it back to Playa del Sol and walked around at night to find a bar to hang out at. We found an Irish Pub and hung out there for a little while before we went home. It was a long day and we wanted to sleep and be ready for the next day. The funny part is that we ran into the crew again and they kind of made fun of us for going to Madrid and going into an Irish Pub.

We made it back to the hotel just fine and wanted to get up early the next day so we could see more things. A phone alarm goes off and we all think it’s like 8:30am. Turns out its 12:30pm we were still sleeping! Those flights really screwed with our internal clocks a lot. We all jumped out of bed, got ready, and left. This time we went into this beautiful cathedral, walked around some residential streets and then ended up in Parque del Retiro. The best way to describe this park is that it is the Central Park of Madrid. Beautiful trees, paths, and scenery. It felt like you were in a different world altogether. It was really nice!

We felt like partying afterwards so we went to the hotel, changed, ran back out, and went straight for the ME Penthouse rooftop bar (this was one of the suggestions that the Delta Air Lines crew gave us). We get there and it’s amazing! Expensive drinks with a Mojito costing 12 Euro (around 15 dollars), but for the place, one drink was worth it.

After that we go somewhere else and have some more “fun” there. We headed back to Plaza del Carmen and I met up with my brother to go party as one big group. We hopped around bars and danced the night away.

It was 3am and we hopped on the bus to go back to the hotel. We wanted to take the metro but it was closed so the bus was the next cheapest thing. We got to the right stop and made it to the hotel. Through out our journey home, no one knew where we were going expect for me so I felt like the group navigator! (I know, I’m a dork).

I fell asleep but the other three stayed up until it was time for us to go to the airport. It was a three hours nap and once we got to the airport, we didn’t know if we were going to have seats or not. We finally got some and guess what they were!? Business class seats! I could lie down almost to a lay flat position and they gave us noise cancelling headsets to use. The food was amazing! Perfect food for the morning after. We landed in JFK and then went from there to ATL. It was a great trip overall. I can’t wait for our next one together.

So I finally got my badge! I was really worried about that. I needed to get my employee number to be able to get my badge just so I could request a log in and also activate my flying privileges. Yes that’s right! I get flight privileges to anywhere Delta flies! We are all planning a trip this weekend maybe to Buenos Aires, Dublin, or Barcelona. We looked at Cairo but might not be able to into that one. We’ll see though. Tomorrow, Friday, is when we will see where we are going. We fly stand by so we look at the flights that we have the best chance on getting on.

Anyways, the first week is almost done and I must say, it has been a very good one. It still was a little slow just trying to get things set up but I have met all of my project managers and the people that I will be working with. There are some really cool things that I will be doing. One of those is building a business case for upper level management in eliminating paper in the cockpit and ramp operations. Pilots would be using more of an electronic flight bag that would be inter-connected to the airplane and flight operations. If this becomes possible, it would eliminate around $500,000/yr of paper cost in Atlanta alone. If all the other hubs follow suit, it could save millions for the company! And here I am, a regular undergraduate student barely 21 working on this. I feel pretty badass! J

A couple other projects is making sure that pilots are registered to go in Israeli Airspace (because you must be cleared before you take off due to security reasons), doing jumpseat authorization letters, helping the other inters with their projects. I’m excited because all of the interns in Flight Operations (which is only 3 total including me) will be working with each other helping each other out on projects, learning and making mistakes, but build experience in the process. I cannot wait until we are left alone to do our own things and be treated like employees at Delta.

I think that that is the thing that I like most about this internship. We are not the interns that run for coffee or get food for the boss. We are treated like employees working on similar projects that veteran employees have been working on. Only one week and I already feel like part of the team. I am really excited.

Today was my first day at Delta. I must say, it was like any regular first day at any company except this one had something else. It had aviation professionals who were welcoming us scared little interns to a monster of a company like Delta. Seriously, every person I met today was excited that we were there. It was interesting! Here was the Vice President of Flying Operations, and Chief Pilot (they are the same person at Delta), welcoming us “aboard” and wishing us luck during our limited time here. I was and still am really excited!

As far as work went, I didn’t really do much. I need my log in information, my employee number, and my badge to be able to do anything. So I pretty much sat and walked around meeting some cool people.

The best thing that I did was get into a Level D FTD. That’s a full motion simulator! We flew the 737-800 testing out an arrival into LAX. The old intern showing us how to fly it was pretty cool. He was programming the Flight Management Computer to fly the specific arrival but he couldn’t figure a specific waypoint or how to enter it. That’s when I stepped in. I was a little reluctant since it was my first day but I’m glad I spoke up. I remembered what I learned this past semester in my FMS class at ERAU and was able to show the other interns on how to use the FMS a little. I felt pretty good and the other intern was impressed. I did show off a bit, which felt good and a little awkward but oh well, the job got done! Lol.

Anyways, I got to go to bed. Got home kind of late since I had to do some grocery shopping and it is a 25 miles drive to work. I will write soon! Bye!

I finally made it to Atlanta. Its Sunday afternoon and I am exhausted. I left Denver Friday afternoon and spent a couple of days on the road. I really liked spending the night in Salina, KS but not so much in Nashville, TN (I’ll explain why later).

So I left my house a little nostalgic and scared because I was heading to the unknown on my own. This was the longest drive I had ever done alone. I knew that the drive was not going to be a problem. What I was more nervous for was arriving in Atlanta to my new home for the next 12 weeks and then working at Delta. Anyways, I have always hated driving through Kansas because it is such a flat land full of farms and nothing else. It’s a good thing that I left that late because I didn’t want to look at that nothingness. Instead I got to see a lot of darkness with a starry night while blasting my music and signing along like people do in the shower (you know how there is a lot noise that you don’t really hear yourself so you think that you sound really good? That sort of singing). It was like that the entire way to Salina until It was approaching 11pm and I needed to sleep. I’m glad I made it that far and that my newly made mix for the trip was keeping me entertained and awake.

Woke up the next morning early and continued my journey to Atlanta. I stayed mainly on I-70 and until St. Louis where I had to change roads but I got to drive next to the Gateway Arch! I wanted to stop but didn’t want to be that creepy, loner guy enjoying that sights alone. I didn’t feel like being a looser, lol. I did take a picture on my phone so check it out below! Sorry if it’s blurry. Kind of did it while I was driving and it wasn’t the safest thing but hey, I’m always up for a challenge and it was fun. Don’t worry Doug, I’m not encouraging our incoming or current students to drive and take pictures (I say this so I don’t get in trouble with the blogging thing), lol.

Anyways, I continued on and asked myself, “Is this gonna last forever?” like the kid on the video of him after his visit to the dentist. “Is this real life?” Sorry had to throw that one in there, haha. The trip was beginning to get redundant and I was about to drive myself off a cliff or bridge until Superman saved me. I kid you not Superman did save me!

I was driving a little after sundown during civil twilight (for all you pilots that are or need to get familiar with the term) and I saw a giant billboard saying, “GIANT SUPERMAN STATUE, Take exit (whatever number it was) towards Metropolis.” I was in shock! I had seen on the History Channel (yes I watch it, don’t judge) something about a town called Metropolis who had a bunch of Superman stuff like a museum, souvenir shops, and yes a giant Superman statue, but I never thought about it again let alone if I was going to see it during my drive. It was getting dark and I wanted to make it to Nashville fast but I didn’t care, I took a 10-mile detour just to see this with my own eyes. I finally got there and there it was, standing tall next to Town Hall looking over its proud citizens of this fine Town of Metropolis. I took a picture and sent it to my little brother and then called him and talked about it. I was pretty excited and silly, little brother just laughed at me but was a little jealous (you are probably laughing at how dumb I seem to be but hey, at least I brightened up your day). In the end Superman did save me from death by boredom.

Superman Statue

So when I got over my Superman diversion (another pilot term), I resumed own navigation (that’s two in one sentence) towards Nashville. I got a coupon book from a rest stop and found a hotel for $30 a night, so I made it into Nashville and began to look for this hotel. It was in one of the shadiest places that I have ever been. I got to get a room but it was sold out, which was ok because it was a weird place anyways. I drive around and went to two other hotels but those were sold out also. The only hotel open in the area was one a couple of doors down form the shady hotel. This was not much different. I get a room, which cost me like $65, which is insane, and quickly closed the curtains and locked myself in. I seriously thought that I would hear a gunshot or something. Gladly nothing happened and the next day, I woke up and hightailed it out of there toward Atlanta.

I finally made it to my ATL home and already figured out where Delta Headquarters is at so I know how to get to work tomorrow. But I wanna share how awesome this place is! I drove into the neighbor and dropped my jaw. It is 30 minutes south of the airport in this area surrounded by trees, little lakes/ponds and nice houses with huge yards! I could not believe that this will be the place that I was going to be living at for then next 12 weeks. I pulled into the driveway and was amazed by the house. It’s a nice humble house but it has trees all over and a nice porch. I walked inside and went to my future (now current) room and dropped my jaw even lower. It is a huge room with a full size bed and everything. I love it! (It’s better than the room that I have back home in Denver but don’t tell my parents that).

Anyways, I’m all settled in and now its time to sleep. Big day tomorrow, really nervous and all but I’m sure I’ll do fine. Wish me luck! Until then Kawabonga my friends! (If you don’t get the phrase Kawabonga, go jump out of an open window. It comes from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles who where the badasses of cartoons! I liked Michaelangelo best by the way, lol. Later!)

So I have two weeks to waste before my internship in Atlanta starts. I already found housing and have everything in place. I am staying with a current Delta employee in one of the rooms that he rents for the seasonal interns. I only ay $350 for everything so it’s a great deal! And I get my own room!

Anyways, the drive home was a long one. I had stayed up all night the night before so I decided to postpone the drive by 12 hours. I ended up leaving at 11pm, which was not that smart but whatever right? Lol. I drove all through the night, slept at a couple of rest stops and finally made it home. But what was interesting about the drive was when I was approaching Denver.

I drove through Durango, Fairplay, and Morrison to finally end up in Denver. Between Fairplay and Morrison, it was snowing. Yes snowing! It was the first week of May and it was still snowing. I seriously thought I was driving back for Winter Break. It was like blizzard type blowing snow so it was a little sketchy but nevertheless, awesome! My Subaru really liked it! Anyways, made it home just fine and only a week and a half left for my internship to start.

This is how bad the drive looked. Not the worst but it was awesome!