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S
ometimes one person canmean the
difference between rough travel
and smooth sailing. For United
customers on international flights,
pursers such as JimWelk work to provide
the best possible travel experience. The
position of purser—basically a flight
attendant with special training—goes
back to Pan Am, which sold its Pacific
Division to United in 1985.
“Pursers came from a very old-school
thought of having one person in charge
who is going to make sure that things are
handledwell. The purser carried the purse
andpaid for things like fuel,”Welkexplains.
“I have safety and work responsibilities,
but being a purser takes it up another
level, in that I make sure everything is
done to the standard that United has set.”
Welk first fell in love with travel during
a four-week tripwitha leadership group in
high school. While pursuing his bachelor’s
degree in psychology at Baldwin-Wallace
College, hewas hired byUnited and began
training inMay 1978. From there, he never
looked back in a career that, he says, has
given him lots of opportunities to learn
more about the things he loves.
“When you get the travel bug, you
become truly interested in people and
whatmotivates them,” he says. “In this job,
there are always new people to meet and
something new down the road. Flying is
a continuing experience of learning—for
instance, understanding which facial
expressions and hand gestures are con-
sidered polite when speaking to someone
from Japan.”
But the learning, Welk says, isn’t just
about acquiring knowledge. For him, it’s
also providing a way to “Fly the Friendly
Skies of United,” the company’s slogan
when he joined the airline and one that
stays in his mind to this day. Learning
about people, their customs and their
expectations allows Welk to help custom-
ers feel welcome on United’s planes and
ensure that their flying experience goes
as smoothly as possible.
The job isn’t without its challenges,
though. “I want everything to be its best
and to appear seamless from one transi-
tion to another, but we often have time
challenges in ge ing all the crews on the
same page,” he says. “There is a lot to do to
make sure that, when it all comes together
and it’s time to present United Airlines to
that first customer onboard, everything
is ready to go.”
Another challenge that Welk and his
crew face isn’t related to planes or prod-
uct—it’s within themselves, brought on
by taking off in one time zone and landing
in another 14 hours later, and still having a
job to do. That’s something Welk knows a
bit about: He earned a master’s degree in
regulatory biology from Cleveland State
University with a thesis on circadian
rhythms and the effect of time changes on
workers suchasauto-plant shi employees,
police officers and, yes, flight a endants.
As for the most rewarding part of his
job, Welk says it’s probably “learning to
be in the moment, whether it’s meeting
colleagues or customers. I do things most
people never get to do, such as walking
outside a temple in Japan, with all the
cherry blossoms in bloom.”
Moreover, traveling around the world
helped shape the person he has become. “I
grewup reading about all these people and
places and customs, and then I got to expe-
rience them,” he says. “If I didn’t have this
job, I don’t think Iwouldhave developed as
I did inunderstanding people and learning
to be empathetic to anyone and everyone.”
As much as he loves his work, though,
Welk says his leisure time means
not
get-
ting on airplanes. “I vacation vicariously in
my job, so duringmy time off I like to be at
home with family and friends.”
Holding the Strings
For Purser JimWelk, being in control means creating a great
customer experience
BY A. AVERYL RE
VOICES
16
JUNE 2012
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HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM