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Weekly Journal #4

Emily Watson

KINS 4306: Internship in Public Health

Georgia College & State University

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During this fourth week interning for Delta Air Lines, I went on a day trip to Daytona,

had meetings to determine a final research project, worked on my Passenger Safety Information

Cards project that I was assigned to, began creating an action plan/outline for my research

project, and attended multiple meetings to learn about various projects that leaders were working

on.

On Wednesday of this week, I went on a day trip to the Daytona airport with another

leader in the organization to check on their cleaning processes and how those processes were

going. The purpose of this trip was to verify that the vendors and Delta employees were

executing the right cleaning procedures because the Daytona 500 was the upcoming weekend.

There would be more customers than normal because of this event, so we wanted to make sure

all of the processes were running smoothly and efficiently. I learned that although this was a

smaller airport, it is still extremely important to clean efficiently and put customers safety first. I

also learned that these trips are not only about learning, but also building connections. The more

professionals I meet, the more opportunities I could have.

As I mentioned in last week’s journal, I was assigned to create an Excel spreadsheet that

tracked the provisioning of Passenger Safety Information Cards onto the aircraft. On Tuesday

and Thursday, I worked on creating this sheet which involved entering in every aircraft type and

tail number. This was a very tedious task, as there are over a thousand tail numbers. I also

revised a Microsoft form that I made for the stations to fill out to document what tail number

received PSIC. On Thursday, I had a meeting with the person who assigned me this task and we

discussed if my Excel sheet would be updated daily or weekly. From this project, I learned to

utilize my resources and to not be scared of reaching out to others that could assist me.
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Throughout the week I also attended various meetings that were about current projects.

The purpose of me attending these is so that I can learn more about how to facilitate meetings,

the background of the projects, and make connections. One meeting was about putting less Lysol

wipes on the aircraft because the current amount that is being put on are not being used, which is

not cost-effective. Another meeting I attended was about a safety risk assessment for the new

cleaning product that will eventually be used on the aircraft. This meeting involved listing out

mitigations and ranking hazards.

My favorite part of the week was on Friday because it was Employee Appreciation Day

at Delta. Delta hosted a live video that employees could join and the top leaders of the company

thanked everyone for their hard work. My supervisor also thanked me for the hard work I have

been doing and said that I fit right in with the culture at Delta. I felt very proud and valued. This

truly is a great company to work for and I am so blessed to have this experience.

As for my project for the semester, I put in my discussion post last week that my project

would be on developing a cleaning cost per customer. However, after my supervisor spoke with

his boss, they both had concerns that I would have trouble finding the data. They then came up

with another topic for my research project that they felt fit more into my educational focus, and I

agreed. Saying this, my new research project that would be a value to Delta and myself is going

to be focused on helping the Global Cleanliness Organization understand more about the risks of

various viruses and bacteria that are out there. The purpose of this project aligns with Delta’s

vision: to provide a safer and cleaner travel ribbon – as free as possible from the risk of our

employees and customers catching any pathogen. My supervisor stated that my research will

help them learn about what the scientific data is telling us about what comes next- over and

above COVID-19. My supervisor created a general outline for the project:

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● What are the threats? What viruses, bacteria, and related illnesses are our customers and

employees likely vulnerable to today as they work and travel in our environments

(facilities, gates, lobbies, TSA, airplanes)?

● Are our protocols effective against those? A good matrix of what are the prominent

pathogens vs. Delta’s protocols for clean and disinfect in the various locations and where

are the gaps?

● Where there are gaps, what are the opportunities to address those gaps? Do we need

different chemicals or processes?

I will be creating an overview this week of the project that will list the title, objective, approach,

stakeholders, and deliverables as well as an action plan in chart form that lists my task for the

week, resources to use, expected date to complete that specific task, and the status of the task.

Overall, I am excited about this project and feel that it will contribute to the strategy of the

Global Clean Organization, as well as establish sustainability.

WEEK FOUR

Day Time-In Lunch Time-Out Hours Worked

Monday, 8:00 A.M. 12:00 P.M.- 4:30 P.M. 8

February 8 12:30 P.M.

Tuesday, 8:00 A.M. 12:00 P.M.- 4:30 P.M. 8

February 9 12:30 P.M.

Wednesday, 9:00 A.M. 6:00 P.M. 9

February 10

Thursday, 8:00 A.M. 12:00 P.M.- 4:30 P.M. 8

February 11 12:30 P.M.

Friday, 8:00 A.M. 12:00 P.M.- 4:30 P.M. 8

February 12 12:30 P.M.

Total Weekly 41
Hours
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Total Hours to 150

Date