September 2016
N E W S L E T T E R
F O R
T H E
E M P L O Y E E S
O F
L O S
A N G E L E S
W O R L D
A I R P O R T S
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Photos by Gabriela Pacheco
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Project Manager’s
Certification Course
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Cleaning up—LAX Airport cadets volunteer for Coastal
Cleanup Day.
Showing spirit—Team LAWA volunteers (from left to right)
Vicky Lit (Sr. Accountant, Financial Reporting), Laura Chittum
(Sr. Administrative Clerk,, Board Office) and Anita Tan
(Database Architect, IMTG) helped clean up the LAX Dunes.
Team LAWA Help Remove 3,600 Pounds of Plants
On Coastal Cleanup Day at LAX Dunes
ACE Academy
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My Best Shot
Team LAWA joined a volunteer group of 132 to
remove invasive plant species at the LAX Dunes
on Saturday, Sept. 17. Dedicated volunteers took
to the dunes armed with 32-gallon plastic bags,
Japanese gardening sickles and their can-do
attitudes to uproot invasive plants throughout
the northern portion of the dunes. Following two
hours of cleanup, volunteers filled over 200 bags
weighing approximately 3,500 pounds of Russian
thistle and iceplant.
In addition to Team LAWA, the event brought
together students from local schools like Bright
Star School and Crossoroads Middle School,
as well as non-profit and civic groups Friends of
the LAX Dunes, Girl Scout Troop 2865, Loyola
Marymount University’s “Engineers Without
Borders” and CSULA’s Alpha Sigma Tau sorority.
The cleanup effort was organized by The Bay
Foundation as part of the California Coastal
Commission’s state-wide Coastal Cleanup
Day, which encompassed over 922 cleanup
sites throughout California. Los Angeles City
Councilmember Mike Bonin also attended to
support the volunteers’ efforts.
Once known as the Surfridge neighborhood, the
LAX Dunes are now home to a variety of wildlife,
including foxes, the Coast Horned Lizard and
the endangered El Segundo Blue Butterfly. It’s
also home to many invasive plants, including
Russian thistle and iceplant, which were grown
by Surfridge residents to stabilize their homes’
foundations. Today, the spread of these plants can
threaten the dunes’ ecosystem if left unchecked by
hindering the growth of native plants like coastal
buckwheat (the El Segundo Blue’s favorite food)
or the California poppy.
Friends of the LAX Dunes hosts monthly cleanup
dates on the first Saturday of every month. The
next date will be Saturday, Oct.1. Please visit http://
www.santamonicabay.org/friends-of-the-lax-dunes/
for more information.
Photo by Sgt. Harold Evans
From left: Chief Executive Officer Deborah Flint, Deputy Executive Director David Shuter, with
service honorees from Maintenance & Service Division: David Childress, Garage Attendant;
Fernando Carrasco, Maintenance & Construction Helper; Belinda Brandon, Custodian
Supervisor; Genevieve Santiesteban, Secretary; Edward Melara, Airports Maintenance
Superintendent; and Sr. Automotive Supervisor Gilmore Pearce.
35 Years of Service
Aprile Benjamin (Human Resources
Services), Robin Blueitt (Airport Police),
Martha Hall (Airport Police), Jacquelyn
Heard (Risk Management), Louis
Hoffman (Airport Police), Jacqueline
Jones (Risk Management), Charlie
Kobaissi (FMG, MSD), D’Ann McCoySnearl (Human Resources Services),
Cynthia McCray (Risk Management),
Selanthia Richardson (ONT Landside
Ops), Rodney Rikimaru (Airport Ops),
Marilyn Wells (FMG, MSD), Valierie
Works (Procurement Services)
30 Years of Service
Ronald Argento (FMG, FTSD), Jesus
Arias (ONT), Daniel Bassett (Airport Ops),
Traci Bookman (Airport Police), Belinda
Brandon (FMG, MSD), William Cameron
(FMG, FTSD), Fernando Carrasco
(FMG, MSD), Vickie Cartwright-Adams
(Human Resources Services), Ana
Chavez (FMG, MSD), Loatha Cheatham
(Airport Police), David Childress (FMG,
MSD), Albert Corral (ONT), Angela
Cox (Airport Police), Burt Davis (VNY),
Debra Espinoza (Environmental
Programs Group), Jerome Evans (Airport
Police), Chandra Flemister (Airport
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Noreen Arikawa, Management Assistant,
Airport Police Division – Civilians
Daisy Benitez, Vocational Worker, Terminal 5
Timoiya Chennault, Administrative Clerk,
Airport Police Division – Civilians
Police), Dionisio Guevara (Planning
& Development), Victor Guirguis
(Airport Police), David Ha (Planning &
Development), Masih Hashemi (Planning
& Development), James Hill (FMG, MSD),
David Jackson (Construction Inspection),
Robert Johnson (FMG, CUP), Vijendra
Joseph (FMG, FTSD), Yolande Lara
(IMTG, IT PM) Darrius Lewis (Airport
Police), Eugene Maiden (Airport Police),
Robert Marquardt (ONT Maintenance),
Alberto Martinez, Edward Melara
(FMG, MSD), Sandra Miranda (ONT
Crash and Rescue), Jorge Montenegro
(Airport Police), Andre Munn (Airport
Police), Jae Park (ONT Maintenance),
Gilmore Pearce (FMG, MSD), Ernesto
Ramirez (FMG, FTSD), Jose Prado
(Procurement Services), Timothy Riser
(VNY), Olivia Riter (Human Resources
Services), Francisco Rivera (Airport
Police), Juan Romo (FMG, MSD),
Genevieve Santiesteban (FMG, MSD),
Patrice Shirley (Planning & Development),
Darlene Smith (Risk Management), Greg
Starr (Airport Police), Henry Torres (VNY),
Paula Tran (IMTG, IT Infrastructure),
Joshua Ulatowski (ONT), Nguyen Vo
(Planning & Development), Mario Wade
(VNY), Emily Waters (Airport Police),
Deirdre Williams (Airport Police), Lisa
Williams (Airport Police)
Deputy Executive Director Lisa Trifiletti
(left) and Chief Executive Officer Deborah
Flint (right) pictured with 30-year honoree
Debra Espinoza (Executive Administrative
Assistant).
Alejandro Arellano, Vocational Worker,
Terminal 5
Yudy Canales, Vocational Worker, Terminal 5
LaToya Chandler, Vocational Worker,
Terminal 5
Xue Chen, Senior Auditor,
Revenue Audit and Payroll Operations
Ricky Clemente, CASW III,
Human Resources Division
James Connelly, Instrument Mechanic,
Central Utility Plant
Tonnie Gibbs, Yvette Hollins, Emanuel
Staunton, Bus Operator (P/T), Bus Operations
Maritza Lee, Planning Assistant,
Environmental Programs Group
Rosario Maquiddang, Accountant II,
Financial Reporting Division
Sheena McCall, Management Assistant,
Airport Police Division – Civilians
Amber Meshack, Senior Management
Analyst I, Airports Development
Daniel Morales, Equipment Operator,
Concrete construction
Daniel Osztreicher, Planning Assistant,
Environmental Programs Group
Gabriel Perez, Gardener Caretaker,
Facilities Services
Angel Ramirez, Heavy Duty Equp. Mechanic,
Fleet Maintenance
Eduardo Salazar, Garden Caretaker,
Facilities Services
Photo by Sgt. Harold Evans
40 Years of Service
Marilyn Costigan (Community Relations),
Cheryl Molette (Procurement Services),
Dauna Semon (Community Relations)
Los Angeles World Airports welcomes the
following new employees who started work
in August and September:
David Blancarte, Gardener Caretaker,
Facilities Services
LAWA Honors Employees for 30,
35 and 40 Years of Service
When it comes to hard work and
dedication, everyone knows that LAWA
employees demonstrate both of those
traits each and every day. Even so, it takes
a special type of person to continue that
dedication for 30, 35 or even 40 years
of continued service! On Sept. 14, 2016,
LAWA Chief Executive Officer Deborah
Flint and Human Resources Director
Paula Adams were on-hand to recognize
the dedication and years of service.
Congratulations!
A R R I VA L S
Peter Soto, Management Assistant,
Real Estate Services
Allan Suyao, Comm. Engineering Associate,
IT - Infrastructure
Ermiase Tesfaye, Management Assistant,
Procurement Services
Daniel Torres, Gardener Caretaker,
Facilities Services
Zoran Turudic, Sr. System Analyst,
IT – Airport Systems
Nelson Valdivia, Management Assistant,
Terminal Business Management
Planning & Development Group Recognizes
Graduates of Project Manager’s Course
aligning projects and programs to the
organizational goals.
Training Modules included: Project
Human Resources, Organization and
Staffing-The Project Team, Project
Planning and Imitation, Safety During
Construction/CALM, Security Airfield/
Terminal Operations, Material Testing
Services Standards (GSD), Quality
Assurance/LADBS/SCC, Central
Building Information Management
(cBIM), Professional Services
Contracts and the Procurement
Process, Construction Management
& Project Administration, Project
Closeout, and Capstone-Exam.
Photo by Mark Haworth, AVB Management Team
The LAWA Planning & Development
Group (PDG) conducted a six-month
Project Manager’s Certification
Training Course that graduated 60
members of the PDG team on Aug. 23,
including specialists from construction,
engineering, IT and other professions.
The training class provided project
management skills that emphasized
Project Manager’s Certification Graduates
1. Jamaal Avilez (Procurement Analyst II)
2. Cynthia Boutte (Non-LAWA – Office
Engineer III/Lead)
3. Rosa Brice (Sr. Airport Engineer I)
4. Matt Brown (Sr. Airport Engineer I)
5. Greg Campbell (Chief Airport Engineer II)
6. Rebecca Cawyer (Airport Engineer I)
7. Cathy Craven (Airport Engineer I)
8. Michael Doucette (Chief of Airport
Planning II)
9. Sean Flynn (Airport Engineer II)
10. John Fronda (Airport Engineer II)
11. Dominic Ghezzi (Principle Construction Inspector II)
12. Mandeep Ghuman (Structural Engineering Associate III)
13. Larry Gonsalves (Sr. Construction
Estimator)
14. Felix Gonzalez (Civil Engineering Associate III)
15. Quentin Gonzalez (Sr. Management
Analyst II)
16. Ishwar Gurung (Non-LAWA – Project
Controls and Reports Manager)
17. Janet Hackney (Exec. Assist. Airports)
18. Heidi Harmon (Civil Engineering Associate III)
19. Masih Hashemi (Civil Engineer)
20. Michael Henderson (Civil Engineering
Associate III)
21. Roger Hyun (Civil Engineering Associate III)
22. Timothy Ihle (Sr. Management Analyst
II)
23. David Johnson (Sr. Management
Analyst I)
24. Mark Kelley (Non-LAWA – Construction Manager III/Lead)
25. David Kim (Civil Engineering Associate III)
26. Min Kim (Civil Engineering Associate
III)
27. Stephen Kimball (Non-LAWA – Pre
Construction Manager Contracts)
28. Daoroong Lahoree (Principle Accountant II)
29. Goran Lazarevic (Civil Engineering
Associate III)
30. Joseph Lemmo (Non-LAWA)
31. James Littleton (Principal Construction
Inspector)
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32. Gerardo Lopez (Principal Construction
Inspector)
33. Roberto Loya (Chief Construction
Inspector)
34. Rufino Lozano (Civil Engineering Associate II)
35. Denny Ly (Civil Engineering Associate
IV)
36. Douglas McAdams (Structural Engineering Associate IV)
37. Daniel McKelvie
38. Crislyn McKerron (Sr. Management
Analyst)
39. Yuvonne Moore (Management Analyst
II)
40. Rebecca Ng (Structural Civil Engineering Associate IV)
41. Jeffrey Nichols (Principal Construction
Inspector)
42. Deepak Patel (Non-LAWA – Project
manager)
43. Devraj Patel (Non-LAWA – Project
Controls Manager)
44. Matt Patterson (Civil Engineering Associate IV)
45. Daniel Perez (Principal Construction
Inspector)
46. John Plunkett (Civil Engineering Associate III)
47. Eduardo Porto (Structural Civil Engineering Associate IV)
48. Scott Read (Sr. Management Analyst
II)
49. Thomas Ross (Non-LAWA – Construction Manager)
50. Kevin Schrock (Airport Engineer I)
51. Robert Schultz (Civil Engineering Associate IV)
52. Laurel Soriano (Transportation Engineering Associate III)
53. Tony Soung (Civil Engineering Associate III)
54. Jonathan Taam (Civil Engineering
Associate III)
55. Lilith Terry (Non-LAWA – IT Systems
Integrator)
56. Van Chapman Thompson (Sr. Airport
Engineer II)
57. Mark Vicelja (Sr. Airport Engineer II)
58. Kris Vogt (Package Manager)
59. YC Wang (Airport Engineer I)
60. Tom Wong (Civil Engineering Associate III)
ONT Hosts Annual Summer Reward Celebration
By Amyee Cruz, Airport Information Specialist,
ONT Community and Public Relations
Ontario International Airport (ONT) supports local afterschool
programs as part of ONT’s efforts to enrich the community and
educate children about the importance of aviation. We host
special events throughout the year that encourage and help
these children grow as individuals.
Photo by ONT Community & Public Relations Staff
On Aug. 3, 2016, students from the Ontario/Montclair YMCA
and the Upland Community Partnership joined us for our
annual summer reward celebration held at our Safety Base.
ONT treated nearly 100 students to pizza, beverages and lots
of goodies. The fun continued with a surprise visit from Tremor,
beloved mascot of the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes minor
league baseball team, as well as the Ontario Reign Dance
Girls, which made for an even more exciting event. Every
student received a backpack full of school supplies to help
them gear up for the upcoming school year.
It was an awesome way for the students to end their
summer!
Special thanks go out to all who helped make this event
successful: Delaware North, ONT Safety Base staff, ONT
Community and Public Relations, Ontario Reign Dance Girls,
Tremor from the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, the Upland
Community Partnership and the Ontario/Montclair YMCA staff.
Guest Experience Team Shares Roadmap
For Improved Customer Service
By Barbara Yamamoto, Chief Experience Officer,
Guest Experience Team
Keep Your Guests Informed: Empower guests with information.
This gives them more control of their airport experience.
Long ago, one curious and perhaps hungry soul asked the
question, “How do you eat an elephant?” It’s the last question
you’d expect from a LAWA newsletter, but we ask it to get you
thinking of how to tackle big challenges, like the challenge of
enhancing the LAX guest experience.
Reduce Their Stress (and Yours): Alleviate stress by creating
a calming ambiance and enjoyable feeling. Remember, we’re
“California Cool” for a reason.
Motivate Yourself, Your Employees and Your Partners:
Motivate employees to create an experience where guests feel as
if all airport personnel work for the same company, regardless of
who is responsible for providing specific services.
So, how do you tackle a big challenge? You do it one bite
at a time! We know that it’s sometimes challenging to move
the guest satisfaction needle, especially when we’re seeing
record numbers of people coming through LAWA airports with
construction strewn everywhere. Nonetheless, you can improve
guest satisfaction by using this roadmap to help us move up in
rankings – one bite at a time.
Delight Your Guests: Unexpected, exceptional extras help put
the fun back into travel.
Include Guest Experiences In Your Policies: Integrate policies,
procedures and protocols to ensure the guest experience is
embedded in all administrative functions.
Put Guests First: Stay customer-centric and keep guest
feedback at the heart of our decision-making.
By following this roadmap, you will be part of an exciting culture
change that fosters an exceptional guest experience ethic
amongst all who work and do business at the airport. For more
information on how to put your guests first, please contact the
Guest Experience Team at [email protected].
Make Your Customers Happy: Increase guest satisfaction by
providing exceptional services and facilities with all available
technologies and innovations.
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Local Students Shown Aviation Careers
At ACE Academy
By Harold Johnson, Principal PR
Representative, LAX Community Relations
Middle and high school students spent
a week at Los Angeles International
Airport’s (LAX) annual Aviation Careers
Education (ACE) Academy offered
by the airport’s Community Relations
Division. Students from the cities of Los
Angeles, Inglewood, Gardena, Culver
City, and other communities surrounding
LAX, spent each day learning about
various career paths in the aviation and
aerospace industries including pilot,
airline and airport operations, aerospace
engineering, security and policing and
controlling air traffic.
The LAX ACE Program consists of
classroom instruction and site visits
at several on and off-airport locations
designed to give students a revealing
On tour—Public Relations Specialist Stephanie Sampson (left) and ACE Program
Manager Harold Johnson (right) pose with the middle school class.
perspective about possible career
opportunities. They saw and experienced the
inner workings of an airline and gained a wider
understanding of the importance of aviation in our modern society.
“ACE academies were created to raise awareness of the careers in
the aviation industry,” said Harold Johnson, a Community Relations
representative at LAX. “We put the students in front of pilots, Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) professionals, airline employees, business
owners and hobbyists to create an understanding of the role of aviation,”
said Johnson.
During the week, LAX students were given presentations on various
topics by LAWA divisions specializing in Airport Operations, Airport
Police and Information Technology. The students had visits with the FAA,
Transportation Security Administration, American and Compass Airlines
and Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Students gained awareness of flight schools while visiting Corsair Aviation
at Van Nuys Airport (VNY). MP Aero, an aviation interior design company
at VNY is another firm that presents to ACE students.
Teachable moment—Paul Herrera (right), a Chief of
Operations at LAX, discusses the role of the Airport
Response and Coordination Center with the ACE students.
There are shortages of pilots, aviation mechanics and air traffic controllers.
For example, in July Boeing aircraft manufacturer released its “2016 Pilot
and Technical Outlook” for the future. Boeing predicts that aviation will
need to hire more than 600,000 commercial airline pilots, mechanics and
over 800,000 flight crews by 2035.
The FAA maintains a national database of ACE camps with a goal to
educate students and maintain a strong aviation workforce.
ACE is one of the educational outreach programs offered by LAX
Community Relations. The ACE Academy offered by Los Angeles World
Airports is in its 19th year. Students interested in attending the LAX
ACE Academy should contact the LAX Community Relations office at
(424) 646-7450.
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Thinking ahead—Tony Chen, manager of the LAWA
Information Technology (IT) – Enterprise Architecture
Division talks about careers in IT.
The civilian staff and sworn officers of Los
Angeles Airport Police work every day to
ensure the safety of the airport community and
its patrons. Here is this month’s list of “Worthy
Observations of the Week”:
• Raquel Fierro (Custodial Services Assistant)
recognized fraudulent documents being used
by a potential LAWA job applicant. Thanks to
her diligence, an APD investigation found the
applicant had outstanding warrants, which led
to his arrest.
•Officers Craig Cdebaca and Eulises Guzman
(both Airport Police Officer II) apprehended
a shoplifter fleeing the Sepulveda West Way
CVS location. In addition to returning the
merchandise, further investigation revealed the
suspect had an outstanding arrest warrant for
$30,000 in burglary.
• Security Officer Kelly Low preserved the
orderly flow of exiting traffic following a
computer outage that caused a traffic backup inside a CTA parking structure. When a
decision was made to allow cars back into
the CTA without paying, Security Officer Low
instituted a plan that allowed cars to exit
unfettered, which eased tensions that could
have otherwise erupted.
•Officers Bartolo Castro, Daniel Krockel
(both Airport Police Officer II) and Michael
Dear (Airport Police Officer III) rescued
a suicidal man from the edge of Parking
Structure 4. Officer Krockel used Google
Translate to overcome the language barrier
(the man spoke Korean), while Officers Castro
and Dear coordinated the tense rescue.
LAX Celebrates First-Ever
Veterans Job Fair
By Gabriela Pacheco, LAX
Community Relations
On September 14, 2016, LAX
Community Relations Division
coordinated its first airport-jobs only
job fair for veterans assisting 23 LAX
employers meet their staffing needs
with former military personnel. LAX
targeted the veteran community, but
the general public was welcomed to attend.
Approximately 100 job seekers attended the free event at the Flight Path Museum
at LAX. Among those seeking jobs, veterans met and interviewed on-the-spot
with company recruiters from ABM Onsite Services, Crews of California and HSM
Host. Other airport recruiters included Mercury Air Group, PCL Construction
Services, Enterprise Holdings, Turner Construction, Hertz Corporation, Dewey
Pest Control, Gate Gourmet, Hertz, LAX Airport Police and Human Resources,
U.S. Customs & Border Protection and Transportation Security Administration.
“Today was a great day for our region’s veterans and for employers at LAX,” said
Trevor Daley, LAWA Deputy Executive Director of External Affairs. “This was the
first job fair to target veterans—an untapped resource of experience, talent and
skill—and matching them with airport employers was the best of both worlds.”
Tenant-employers offered job opportunities in various occupations including bus/
shuttle drivers, sales associates, cargo screeners, engineers, project managers,
administrative assistants, auto technicians, officers, and customer service. Also in
attendance were veterans’ service agencies such as the Bob Hope USO at LAX,
Salvation Army HAVEN Veteran Employment and the California National Guard
who partnered with LAWA to provide resource and benefit information.
My Best Shot
Aerogramme is published monthly
by the Public Relations Division to
cover developments at Los Angeles
World Airports.
Send news items via e-mail to
[email protected], or by U.S. mail
to Los Angeles World Airports, P.O. Box
92216, Los Angeles, CA 90009-2216; or
telephone (424) 646-5260.
Editor.. ................... Frederick Badlissi
Graphic Designer.. ........... Albert Wang
As a covered entity under Title II of the
Americans with Disabilities Act, the City
of Los Angeles does not discriminate on
the basis of disability and, upon request,
will provide reasonable accommodation
to ensure equal access to its programs,
services and activities. Alternative formats in
large print, braille, audio, and other formats
(if possible) will be provided upon request.
Katherine Alvarado of LAX Public Relations shot Hungary’s House of
Parliament, located in Budapest during a recent vacation. It was completed in
1902, and sits along the bank of the Danube River. The wing pictured measures
879 feet long, and the dome 314 feet high.
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Photo by Stephanie Sampson
Airport Police’s Worthy
Observations of the Month