In this event, Boeing was represented by Gregg Gildemann, Regional Director Market Analysis, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. In addition, there was Veronika W.R. Andrews, UNS alumnus, who currently serves as Project Manager at Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The Vice-Rector for Planning, Partnership, Business, and Information Affairs UNS, Prof. Dr. rer.nat Sajidan also attended the event hosted by UNS Fintech Center.

“Thank you for Mrs. Veronika’s help in making this event possible. We are very fortunate to have this event. We hope Boeing can explain to the participants the current condition of the aviation industry and career opportunities in the aviation world considering that currently, Boeing has just opened an office in Jakarta,” said Prof. Sajidan.

This event is one of the agenda for the UNS 46th Anniversary held on March 11. This guest lecture is specifically carried out to give a clear understanding to the UNS students in the aviation sector.

The Aviation Sector is Recovering Gradually

Gregg Gildemann, the speaker for the Guest Lecture, delivers material following the theme “Commercial Passenger/Air Cargo Market Update and Long Term Forecast” for one hour long. Gregg said that the pandemic is profoundly affecting the aviation world. During the spread of Covid-19 in early 2020, the world aviation trend plummeted. However, the aviation trend is slowly starting to show a recovery during 2021. At the beginning of the pandemic, the decline in flight trends is due to many flight bans. Moreover, the large number of countries that closed flight access also caused the aviation industry to experience a downturn.

In 2021 the industry experienced a rise due to the significant influence of the vaccination rate. Gregg said that according to Boeing’s predictions, domestic flights would recover, as before the pandemic, in 2022. “Flight trends are falling due to the pandemic. However, starting in 2021, the world of aviation is slowly improving. We predict that in 2023-2024 the aviation traffic can return to that in 2019. Flight recovery will start from domestic flights in 2022, followed by regional flights in 2023, and globally or internationally in 2024,” he said.

Economic growth in Indonesia is also considered to be improving. Indonesia’s economy fell in the fourth quarter of 2020 but improved in 2021. In the fourth quarter of 2022, the Indonesian economy is predicted to accelerate from the pre-pandemic condition.

Cargo Trends Rising During Pandemic

In contrast with the passenger aircraft, the trend of cargo aircraft rose during the pandemic. This situation results from rising trends in online stores (e-commerce) and logistics during the pandemic.

The community activities restrictions policy leads people to carry out their activities virtually. One of the online activities is shopping. This delivery for groceries or packages needs a lot of cargo planes to expedite the delivery time. Therefore, cargo planes trends are increased during the pandemic.

“The cargo aircraft market has experienced a major impact and change since March 2020, due to various things including the acceleration of e-commerce, the high demand for medical supplies, and maritime countries challenges, which leads to the selection of cargo planes to deliver goods,” he concluded. Humas UNS

Reporter: Ida Fitriyah
Editor: Dwi Hastuti

The post Taking Part in UNS Guest Lecture, Boeing Reveals Indonesia’s Aviation Prediction appeared first on Universitas Sebelas Maret.

The UNS Rector, Prof. Dr. Jamal Wiwoho, states that UNS was honored to host the Guest Lecture under a collaboration with Boeing. This event is expected to motivate UNS students, alumni, and academic staff to be more enthusiastic in their careers. “It is an honor for us to be associated with Boeing Company, a top multinational company included in the top 500 fortune companies in the world. We are also very proud of Mrs. Veronika, an alumnus of the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP) UNS who is now working at Boeing,” said Prof. Jamal.

In line with Prof. Jamal, Steve Lakeway, Country Manager of PT Boeing Indonesia, is also honored to collaborate with UNS. Steve hopes that there will be UNS graduates who can follow Veronika to work at Boeing in the future.

“Whatever your major is, we all have the opportunities to work at Boeing. Not only from the engineering department but we also need employees with various majors. Please check job opportunities at Boeing. It is okay if you do not have a passion for aviation, but once you get into Boeing, you will definitely find that passion,” said Steve.

The Dean of FISIP UNS, Prof. Dr. Ismi Dwi Astuti Nurhaeni, M.Sc., states that she was very proud that an alumnus of FISIP UNS could be employed in an international company. Moreover, the field of work that Veronika is engaged in is widely known as the men’s field of work.

“Mbak Vero has proven that women can be leaders at the international level, especially in the field of technology where many men are involved. I feel proud of Mbak Veronika’s achievements. Hopefully, this can encourage younger students or alumni to pursue a career abroad,” said Prof. Ismi.

For almost 2.5 hours, Veronika Andrews recounted her journey to becoming a Boeing employee. Veronika, who started her career as a manager at an international hotel, has made her way through a series of twists and turns until she was finally accepted at Boeing. Veronika advised the participants to be courageous in setting dreams and be excited to make those dreams come true.

“Don’t give up on your dreams just because of doubts and fears. If you give up in a dream, how do you face reality? Hang your dreams high,” said Veronika. Humas UNS

Reporter: Ida Fitriyah
Editor: Dwi Hastuti

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Her success in earning second and third income to help finance her windowed mother in Surakarta, however, did not last long because Vero, her short name, needed to face the bitter reality of failed marriage. Vero, however, did not let this low point in life drag her down. She continued working her career until she met her now-husband, an expatriate who was also hired by Nurtanio. After her second marriage and her husband’s contract expiration with PT. Nurtanio, Vero followed him back to the US, together with her sons.

Starting life in the US, far from families, in a foreign land, with a foreign language, and raising three children of her own was a challenge for the strong Veronika Andrews. The challenge that she defeated well. After realizing that her English is no longer sufficient to live in the country, Vero was quick to catch up, starting to learn English, finding a job, and learning daily life. “People speak fast, and I could not understand them. Then I decided to learn English again,” she stated.

Early on, Veronika has decided that working for Boeing was her dream after hearing stories brought back by her husband, who then worked for Boeing. She then laid out her plan to achieve the dream. Veronika took a course in a college to study computer programming. She also found a job to support her new education, an institution that provides support to children with problematic families. However, success was not easily served. Again, Veronika needed to move and followed her husband. This time to Brazil, before they returned to the US, allowing Veronika to catch up on her education where she left.

Veronika’s hard work captured her college attention. She then landed a job as a computer laboratory assistant while working other jobs, the so-called graveyard shift that allowed her to have more study time, travel agent, and dentist’s assistant. But she soon realized that working at a small business as an Asian is not an easy task. She received unequal treatment and was always vulnerable to termination of work despite her job quality. “It was as if the place needed to reduce employee, I will be the first that got fired,” she stated.

These experiences again never dragged her down but instead strengthened her will to work in a large multinational company that pays attention to employee inclusivity, none other than Boeing. Attempts after attempts, Veronika succeeded in securing her dream career in 2007 as a Data Management Specialist for Boeing with a contract of three months.

“I was delighted and proud, someone from a small city like Solo could be accepted to work in a company as big as Boeing. I directly inform my family in Solo,” she said.

One dream down, but the journey did not stop. Before completing her first contract with her dream company, Vero was quick to find another career opportunity in the firm. At last, she secured two positions and chose to be Integrated Schedules Specialist for Being 747/767 project in 2008. Hard work, people-oriented, and willingness to share ideas finally brought the Surakarta-born woman into her current position, Project Manager. She then took on another journey for her next dream an MBA from the University of Phoenix. Veronika also received numerous awards in her career, Boeing Global Diversity and Inclusion Award 2018 and Society of Asian Science and Engineers (SASE) Advocate Awards 2019. She is also the President of Boeing Asian Pacific Association (BAPA) and Vice President of the Boeing Indonesian Association (BIA).

In the Guest Lecture “Success in The West: The Journey, The Struggles, The Failures, The Victories” on Tuesday (25/1/2022) through Zoom Cloud Meeting held by UNS, Vero also shared her biggest struggle with a health condition that once forced her to take a break from her beloved career. In the guest lecture, she emphasized the importance of never giving up and believing in one’s dream. The survivor of pancreatic cancer also stated that it is important to have a hobby, to work hard, and have fun, and share her hobby: photography that also received numerous awards in Flickr and Pixabay.

“Let me conclude this with a quote, dream as high as the sky so that when you fall, you will fall among the stars. Soekarno-Hatta,” she concluded. Humas UNS

Reporter: Ida Fitriyah
Editor: Dwi Hastuti

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