As America’s Friendliest Airport®, excellent customer service is just the tip of the iceberg. Everyday, employees go out of their way to help others and positively impact the airport experience of thousands of passengers each day. Airport employees also embody compassion, empathy and kindness. Three of them were recently recognized as the 2008 FLY “Champions of Customer Service.”
Last April, Esayas Tsige, a skycap with IRAM, went above and beyond to assist a passenger who had just arrived from California past business hours. The woman was escaping a domestic violence situation and was quite traumatized. Esayas comforted the woman and showed a great deal of compassion as he stayed by her side until an information counter employee and Phoenix Police Officer were able to find a shelter for her.
Making a personal sacrifice and showing a great deal of kindness, Charlene Rieben used her own money to help a young child who had gotten sick on her clothing. Charlene is an employee for AmAZing, an airport store operated by Casa Unlimited. With no change of clothes and no spare money to purchase any, the little girl’s grandmother was quite distraught. Charlene not only purchased clean clothes for the little girl, she also bought her a little stuffed animal that she had been admiring.
While completing a routine maintenance inspection, Phoenix Aviation Department employee Bob Bogardus assisted a man who had soiled his clothes. Obviously an embarrassing problem for the gentleman, Bob solved it with a great deal of respect and dignity. After attempts to retrieve the man’s luggage which had already been checked, Bob was able to quietly locate the man’s wife. He assisted them in getting the man clean clothes, a wheelchair, and personally escorted the couple through security and to their flight which they made. All of this within 35 minutes!
Prospect Airport Services, which provides sky cap services, definitely embraces customer service and supports the airport’s FLY program. The company was also recognized as being a Champion of Customer Service.
“Their over 230 employees consistently display a F.L.Y. (Friendly, Let me help You) attitude. Prospect’s employees garnered 17.4% of the customer service nominations in 2008, a very impressive amount,” said Alisa Smith, Customer Service Manager for Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.
(Article and photo credit: “Champions of Customer Service Recognized” – skyharbor.com)