Author: Hannah Andersen

Every day, thousands of aircraft take off and land at over 41,000 airports, each of which must be unloaded, cleaned and prepped for the next departure. A single plane is serviced by dozens of airline employees who have approximately 45 minutes to ensure that the aircraft is ready and available for takeoff. Given the tight timeframe and domino effect of one late flight, crews must work quickly and have little margin for error. Now, with Springshot’s newly installed beacon technology at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, automated workforce optimization is possible, and airlines in the Pacific Northwest are now isolating and addressing the root cause of flight delays.

Previously, aircraft service operations were monitored using inefficient processes. Aviation worker data was collected using clipboards and manual time stamps by a supervisor and, due to time constraints, audits were often conducted only once or twice per week. This painted an incomplete picture of worker productivity that was unable to accurately reflect staffing or operational needs. Supervisors were then tasked with making adjustments based on this information, resulting in reactive decisions that did not address issues or complications before they happened.

With beacon technology installed at the gates, aviation workers’ movements and tasks are tracked automatically through their smartphones via Bluetooth low-energy (BLE) network. Each day, hundreds of data inputs are collected and, rather than monitoring worker movements using a clipboard, a supervisor can now review and analyze incoming data using the Springshot interface. As patterns emerge, supervisors can determine what drives potential issues in advance and make staffing or operational changes accordingly. The result is a more efficient operation that gets workers to the right place, at the right time, to keep aircraft running on schedule. Fewer late flights result in fewer cancellations, allowing airlines to capture maximum revenue for each aircraft.

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport joins Atlanta Hartsfield and New York LaGuardia as the newest airport to implement beacon technology for aviation operations. Installation is also scheduled for a number of other major North American airports later this year.

Product Integration Manager for Springshot, with an extensive background in aviation, Geneve Salazar learnt the value of hard work at a young age and now loves exploring her own heritage and new cultures.

There are many things that Geneve loves about traveling; the feeling of discovering a new place, connecting with local culture and coming back with stories to share with friends and family. After spending years devoted to her work in aviation which limited her ability to travel, Geneve is now building up those frequent flyer points and taking on the world for all it has to offer!

Growing up in a small town 30 minutes from McAllen, Texas, Geneve’s Spanish and Italian roots influenced her love of travel and importance of family. When she was 5 years old, her father passed away, leaving her mother to raise her 7 children on her own. While other children her age spent carefree summers at the beaches and pools, Geneve spent the summers working tirelessly in the fields for 13 years, bundling broccoli in Nebraska, and then picking cucumbers, tomatoes and carrots in Ohio.

After moving to Seattle with her family in her twenties, Geneve put herself through college as a Medical Assistant where she worked in nursing homes, emergency rooms and doctor’s offices. In 1999, she started working in the aviation industry as a driver, trainer, dispatcher, supervisor and performance manager.

As a single parent, Geneve worked long and unpredictable hours to provide everything she could for her son and daughter, and while she missed a lot of their precious teen years she found solace in knowing that they stayed out of trouble, did well in school and appreciated the sacrifices their mother made for them. She also instilled her children with a love and appreciation for other countries and cultures.

She recounts one of her fondest memories:

Geneve and her family don’t need to leave the country to find adventure. They are often the first to arrive and the last people to leave Silverwood Theme Park, enduring long lines for rollercoaster rides, including her 3 year old granddaughter Skye who insists on riding on the “Pirate Ship” or “The After Shock” ride. Geneve is also an avid and competitive marathon runner and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Adrenaline runs deep in her blood.

Since joining Springshot, Geneve has been making her mark on an industry that has been such an important part of her life. She enjoys traveling to new cities, teaching people how to use the Springshot Platform and helping them get rid of their piles of paperwork.

Geneve beams with gratitude for the time she now has to watch her granddaughter, Skye, grow up. With a more flexible schedule, she is able to cook her dinner and hopes to be around to help her with her homework when she gets older.

With a passport full of stamps (she has traveled to over 50 cities across 13 countries), what’s next on Geneve’s bucketlist? She dreams of exploring her heritage in Spain and Italy and hopes that one day, her work will send her to Rio De Janeiro.

No matter where she is in the world, you’ll always be able to catch her, loud and proud, watching the Seahawks play.

Favorite movie: Gone with the wind
Most important travel item: Local currency
If you could have dinner with anyone (alive or living) who would it be? Dinner always with my children and granddaughter
Favorite sports team: Seattle Seahawks
Favourite city: Torn between Costa Rica and Lihue

Product Integration Manager for Springshot and former aviation Cabin Crew and General Manager, Tranna Washington is focused on helping people take the first step into a new direction

When she was just a teenager, Tranna Washington’s family moved from Cincinnati to Atlanta in search of better opportunities and a brighter future. But life has strange ways of showing you what’s important, even if you’re not ready to face it.

At eighteen, Tranna received news she could never have prepared for—the day after her partner’s birthday, he passed away. Thrust into single parenthood, Tranna made their one-year old daughter Shadia her sole priority.

Refusing to hand the responsibility of parenting to her family, Tranna jumped into employment, working as part of the cabin crew for Aramark, which performed work for Delta Air Lines. Her hours there formed a collection of thousands of early mornings and late nights. All without knowing what direction her efforts would take her, Tranna simply focused on the work in hopes that her daughter would one day have a life without burden.

Tranna worked her way up. After years of earning minimum wage, she got her first managers position at 21 years old, while the company paid for her to attend college to study Business Management. She took every overtime shift she could find, every weekend roster she could slot into and found herself counting her hours of sleep on one hand. At 23 she was promoted to Operations Manager and by 26 she became a General Manager.

Despite the long hours, Tranna never forgot who it was all for, and quality time with her daughter was not sacrificed. Shadia’s birthdays were the most important day of the year, and afternoon trips to Camp Creek Park for yogurt became a ritual.

While it might’ve been easy to give up, that was never an option to Tranna.

Eleven years later, those years of determination and grit have paid off. In July, Tranna joined Springshot after reconnecting with her former Air Serv colleague (and Springshot Director) Clint Powell. Now, she works flexible hours and has space to figure out what she actually enjoys to do outside of work. She hopes she’ll be able to show Shadia the world one day; a trip to London and a shopping date in Paris.

Most importantly, Tranna takes her daughter to school, cheerleading practice sessions, and track and field competitions. In fact, Shadia’s hours are more demanding than Tranna’s now—at 14, Shadia’s already in high school thanks to an advanced course load.

Tranna’s future plans lie in building a foundation to help those similar to her younger self—unsure of where to go and scared to turn their goals into action. And just like she vowed at 19 years old, her relationship with her daughter remains the most important part of her life.

The sentiment is clearly shared. “Do you need help with anything, Mom? Is there anything I can get you?” Shadia always asks after she gets home from school. “I love you, Mom,” she calls out every night before bed.

In those moments, Tranna finds what life was trying to give her for years: a future as bright and vivid as she imagined it would be when she was just a girl.