Working for Spirit Airlines, Joseph Harmon has held various leadership roles within multiple departments. From technician, he advanced to quality control inspector. Next, for just over a year, he was an inspector, then he was promoted to quality control supervisor before landing in his current position: senior maintenance manager at the Dallas/Fort Worth station.
Within his peer group and among eight other managers, he was moved to Top Talent. According to Harmon this means "always staying engaged in the operation and constantly looking for ways to improve the overall safety and efficiency of the department. As well as collaborating with other department leaders to effectively provide a safe and on-time service for our guests."
To use his experience within the departments, he joined Spirit’s negotiating committee and is helping negotiate a collective bargaining agreement for the tech ops team.
As time allows, Harmon takes part in numerous job fairs and tells future A&P technicians: "Aviation is a great and exciting career field providing a dynamic work environment, professional growth, and it sparks innovation."
He serves on the advisory board of two A&P schools to help provide curriculum guidance to ensure graduating students are ready for a successful career in aviation.
To anyone already in the industry, he encourages, "Embrace change and new challenges that come your way, stay positive and always look for ways to enhance your skillset."
What helped Harmon advance in his career is "having great leaders, staying persistent in learning different aspects of aviation and learning other roles that interact with your current position."
When he was younger, he watched agricultural planes flying over real low and was intrigued. While attending A&P school, he found his first job in aviation building/working on agricultural aircraft.
