Faces of PSA: Meet Kaitlyn Phelan
Name: Kaitlyn Phelan
Title: Flight Attendant
How long have you worked for PSA? I’ve worked at PSA for almost a year, it will be my one-year anniversary this June.
How long have you been in the airline industry? Where did you work before PSA? This is my first job in the airline industry and I absolutely love it. Before PSA, I attended school at the University of North Texas and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in French last May. Before PSA, I trained horses and did other odd jobs for extra money like dog sitting and babysitting.
What brought you to PSA? I took a career class my last semester of school. I knew I wanted to be a flight attendant. About two weeks before graduation, I applied and everything fell into place. I graduated, flew to Charlotte for my interview and went to training a few weeks later.
Give us a brief overview of what you do: As a flight attendant, I am first and foremost making sure everyone is safe as well as doing my best to ensure everyone has a positive experience. I try to make sure each customer feels special and valued.
What is one of the biggest challenges of your job? Some of the biggest challenges so far have been being away from my family. I have a very large family back in Texas and it can be challenging to make time for everyone. There are things I’m miss out on and that’s OK. I make the best of it while I’m there.
Where’s your favorite place you have traveled? I’ve loved getting to explore more of North Carolina, as well as other places that I may not have even known about if I didn’t have this job. Before this job, I traveled a lot internationally, but it’s been great to be able to see more of the U.S., especially the East Coast. It’s such a privilege to wake up one morning and go to Orlando to see friends or take a quick trip to Chicago for some pizza.
You are going to be competing in the Miss Texas USA pageant in September. What does it mean to you to be part of that competition? Yes! The competition is Labor Day weekend, Aug. 30- Sept. 1. I’ll be competing for the title of Miss Texas USA, which is the preliminary state pageant for the Miss USA pageant (which will be televised May 2). Texas is a very competitive state and has produced many Miss USA winners and even a Miss Universe winner! The pageant promotes determination, confidence and celebrates young women and their goals.
How did you become involved in pageants? This will be my first pageant. There is no preliminary competition for Miss Texas USA other than an application, which I completed on a whim. A week later, they contacted me and told me I’d been selected to represent my area. I’ll be representing my hometown of Keller, Texas. Everyone has been so supportive and I’ve had a chance to connect and network with so many flight attendants that have put me in touch with awesome people.
What do you love about working for PSA? I love that PSA feels like a big family. Being away from my own family and commuting has been challenging and my coworkers always help me anyway they can and ask for nothing in return. That’s what family does.
Would you recommend PSA and why? I would recommend PSA because we are such a fast-growing company with so many opportunities. Also, training did an awesome job so I could handle my first emergency landing. Even though it was stressful, I felt like I had all the tools to handle the situation.
What you do like about your base? I love being CLT-based because there is always flying to do. It’s such a busy airport. Everything is always fast-paced and exciting. I also love that it’s easy to commute to DFW which allows me to spend more time with my family.
Tell us one thing about your role as a flight attendant most people don’t know: I think a lot of people don’t know that crews hate delays and cancellations just as much as the customers. I think we’d all rather be working and getting where we need to go rather than sitting in an airport.
What has been the most rewarding part of your job? It’s awesome getting to talk to customers on the longer flights. I also love seeing random acts of kindness. I’ve seen two strangers share things like candy bars and sandwiches. It shows you that there are still genuinely good people out there. I also love being able to take someone’s bad day where nothing has gone right for them and give them above-and-beyond customer service.
Tell us something few people know about you: I was born in Zagreb, Croatia and actually have dual citizenship, but I unfortunately don’t speak Croatian.