Aug 14, 2017 - At the time it was research and data â also known as business intelligence. I did a lot of work with Ta
International airlines at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
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three months, before getting hired on permanently.
People of the Port is a new series of articles that shines the spotlight on employees at the Port of Seattle. A collaboration across multiple departments, these articles share their unique work responsibilities, contributions to the organization, and interests outside of work.
Ian Sharma, From Intern to Air Service Development Analyst
What was your role as an intern? At the time it was research and data – also known as business intelligence. I did a lot of work with Tableau, a software used for data visualization. Tableau was new to the Port, so I was getting that up and running. I worked with a lot of teams at the airport on various data projects. What led you to the internship?
Published August 14, 2017 by Omie Drawhorn Air Service Development Analyst Ian Sharma, who once started as an intern, travels the world for fun and gets to meet with airlines from around the world for work. How long have you been working at the Port? I started as a graduate intern in November of 2011. After that, I was an emergency hire for
I was a graduate student at the University of Washington (UW) in the school of Marine Affairs, which is an interdisciplinary program related to ocean policy and law. It’s a pretty unique program. Policy makers and marine scientists don’t speak the same language, so they often talk past each other. The idea behind the program is to teach these groups how to communicate better. Because I was in the marine field, I was looking at the Port of Seattle’s website and found the graduate internship position. Although the internship happened to be in aviation rather than in the marine field, I’m also a huge airport dork, so I went for it.
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What did you study for your undergraduate degree? I completed my undergraduate degree in urban geography and German at Vassar College in New York. What is your current role at the Port? I’m an Air Service Development Analyst. It’s one of those careers that I had no idea existed. The primary goal of the position is to bring new airlines and flights to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. As a small team, we focus on international airlines. We build business cases for network planners of different airlines to show them a move to Seattle would make good business decision based on numbers, not just the fact that Seattle is a pretty city. There is some travel involved. We meet with target carriers and go to conferences which are basically speed dating for airlines and airports. Airports officials show up, have a meeting, ring a bell, and move on to the next airline representatives. Sometimes we’ll have a long meeting with a full financial analysis and forecast, and we also meet with the airlines that are already at our airport. International passenger traffic at Sea-Tac Airport rose up 13% in 2017 compared to 2016, so the demand for more airlines is there. Since 2016, we’ve added six new international airlines: Aeromexico, Eurowings, Norwegian Air, Virgin Atlantic, and Xiamen Airlines.
Ian Sharma working at the Airport Office Building at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
What do you enjoy doing when you’re not working? I love to travel. One thing I really enjoy about my job is that I get to work with people from different cultures, people from all over the world. In my personal life, I still seek to gain that international experience. A recent favorite trip was to Mexico City. It has a negative reputation of being so big and unsafe but I never once felt the slightest bit scared when I was there. The museums are the best anywhere, the food is amazing, and the people are so friendly.
Ian lives in Capitol Hill with his two very fat cats. Special thanks to Ian Sharma for the opportunity to share his story. Follow our social media accounts for the next People of the Port article!
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