Women in Travel: Susan Kooiman

Longevity in the workplace is becoming rarer these days, but Susan Kooiman is an exception. After nearly twenty years with Transat, most recently as the beloved BDM Ontario, she has resigned from the company.

“19 years ago, I knew I wanted to work at Transat,” says Kooiman. I loved the airline. And I knew a lot of people there. So, there was a little bit of a family comfort already, they were really welcoming. It was like I’d just walked into an instant family.”

Kooiman had been a travel agent for 11 years before making the move to Transat. She says it feels like a lifetime ago; she still lived at home and was what she called, “just a kid.”

“I had taken a travel and tourism course and I was working as a travel agent in Toronto, and that's when I knew I wanted to transition into a sales role. And I knew it wanted to be Transat. I remember finding the ad in the newspaper in the old days,” she chuckles.