Employee Spotlight: Amy Van Orden, SIXT Rental Car Agent at TPA
After frequent visits to Tampa International Airport as a child, Amy Van Orden says she was drawn to working at TPA. Nearly 20 years later, she says she is enjoying every minute.
When Amy Van Orden was a little girl, her father would bring her along to Tampa International Airport any time he had to drop off a package.
“I was like, ‘Show me the planes,’” Van Orden recalled. Little did she know, one day she’d grow up to have a career working at the Airport she always loved.
“I was drawn to working here," she said.
Back in 2006, Amy was finishing up school and working in the hospitality industry when a friend told her about a job in the rental car business. She applied to work at TPA’s Rental Car Center – back when it was located at the Long Term Parking Garage – and was quickly hired. Nearly 20 years later, she is still working at the Airport, calling it one of the best decisions she ever made.
In 2020, after the COVID-19 pandemic, Van Orden joined a new rental car company at TPA called SIXT.
“I had a perception that they were a newer company and not that big," she said. "I realized I was wrong.”
In fact, German-based SIXT was founded as one of Europe’s earliest rental car companies in 1912, with a fleet of just three cars. Since then, the company expanded across the globe to more than 2,000 locations in 100 countries, including numerous airport locations across the United States.
Van Orden says since joining the team, she’s fallen in love with her job.
“I love meeting people from all over the world,” said Van Orden. “You get to talk to people from all walks of life. Just today, I spoke to someone from Italy and someone else who came in from Brazil.”
An avid traveler, Amy uses her SIXT friends-and-family discount to help pay for car rentals while visiting new cities. Her career even helped her achieve her lifelong dream of owning a home on the water, she said.
Van Orden has deep Tampa roots and attended Plant High School before beginning her career at the Airport. Outside of work, she keeps busy spending time with her six cats and loves kayaking and all forms of boating. Her favorite travel destination so far has been Cuba, and she looks forward to booking a trip to Greece one day in the future.
“I would highly recommend a career in the rental car industry for so many reasons,” Van Orden said. “Every day is a little different, the people are great, and it’s like family. Plus, we have great benefits.”
SIXT is one of the companies at TPA that will be participating in this year’s upcoming Airport-wide Hiring Day. The event is scheduled to take place Thursday, January 18, from 9:00 a.m. until noon. Many of TPA’s shops and restaurants will also be looking for new employees, along with Airborne Tampa, The Crisis Center of Tampa Bay, Alliance Ground International and many more. For more information, visit the Hiring Day event page here.