There will be a vacancy for a station manager soon. The station manager is the top manager in one of the airline's airports and is responsible for all activities at the airport, from ticketing passengers to handling the fueling and turnaround of an aircraft. The station manager usually supervises one or two ticket clerks, two baggage handlers, and one or more aircraft-servicing people. He/she works from the first flight in the morning until the last flight at night, often a 10- to 12-hour day, 5 to 6 days a week. He/she must be good with the public and very passenger-oriented. When anything out of the ordinary happens, it falls on the station manager to make things right with the passengers. The company has a preference for hiring from within, and it has a formal policy of requiring all positions to be posted internally to give interested current employees adequate notice.

The station with the opening currently has an all-white, all-male crew. The only requirement in the job advertisement is that the applicant has "related experience in the airline industry." You have pared the list of applicants down to four individuals. Whom will you select?

1. A middle-aged woman of color who was formerly a cabin attendant for an airline that went bankrupt. She received excellent annual evaluations and one award for "Cabin Attendant of the Year." She is bright, competent, professional, and appears highly motivated. She stated that she could learn technical parts of the job quickly (supervision of baggage handling, fueling, restocking the aircraft, etc.). She is the only applicant with a college degree. One of your staff people stated, "This is an opportunity to live our stated diversity and inclusion values. With her degree, she could move up in the organization."

2. A middle-aged, white male who was assistant station manager for five years for a large airline who wanted to relocate. He appears to be pleasant and easy-going and has good recommendations from his former employer. "He could likely step in and immediately do the job well, though one of his references indicated he was not very good at receiving constructive feedback," the airline's HR manager said.

3. The white, young ticket agent at the airport where the opening has occurred. She has been working for the airline for two years and has very good performance evaluations. She worked as a baggage handler a few times when needed but has not done some of the other jobs she would be supervising. The out-going station manager has stated, "I think, in time, she could learn how to be a good station manager. She will make some mistakes, but everybody does. The company should send a strong message to employees that promotion from within is encouraged."

4. The son of the owner of the largest employer in town. He is white and has just graduated with a two-year associate degree from a well-known aviation management program. He is very mature for his age (28) and seems to be a be a quick study that could learn on the job. He did have training in station management in his aviation program, though he has never done it in an on-the-job capacity. If the airline hired this person, it would undoubtedly get all the business from his father's firm, which is substantial, since he brings people in from all over the U.S. to his plant. His father is very influential in the city and has made it known to the president of your airline that he would consider it a personal favor if the airline hired his son.

**Explain why you made that choice**

Reference: Airline Simulation Capstone Project MAN4900