Yearly Winner 2008
Employee of the Year Award

Roger Ramos
Security and Communications, MDAD

While performing his assigned job duties, Mr. Ramos noticed an aircraft heading for departure with a flat tire. He immediately notified Airside Operations, which then contacted the FAA Tower and had the aircraft hold position. Thanks to Mr. Ramos’ observation and decisive action, a potential catastrophic accident was avoided.







 

January 2009

DeJean Fenil Livan
ASMO

During his lunch break he assisted a passenger in the terminal who was in distress because she could not walk to the gate. She had not pre arranged a wheelchair and the airline did not have one available. The BRI employee did not hesitate and took her to the gate. His excellent customer service and smile was not only towards her but her family as well. He left her at the gate and returned to the family member to tell them she was ok.




 

February 2009

Detra Johnson
Landside Operations Officer II

A passenger who had forgotten his iPhone in a taxi he had taken from MIA to his hotel on South Beach returned to MIA to search for his phone. After fruitless attempts to find it, he approached Landside Officer 2, Detra Johnson, who reassured him that she would search for the phone and contact him if she found it. Hours later, Detra not only found the phone, she also delivered it personally to the passenger’s hotel after work.




 

March 2009

Veronica Ruiz
Yomara Pineda
Christopher Maria
TSA Officers

While performing their regular duties, TSA officers Ruiz, Maria, and Pineda assisted an elderly passenger looking for her lost husband. All three officers used their personal cell phones to make local and long distance calls while patrolling the curbside for hours, stayed voluntarily beyond their shift’s end searching for the gentleman, and assisted the elderly lady with overnight accommodations. The next day, the officers recognized the woman’s husband wandering in the curbside area and the couple was finally reunited. As a team, the officers accepted the challenges of an unpredictable situation, to include a language barrier, and went above and beyond their call of duty to assist an elderly couple in need.
 

April 2009

Yvonne Lewis
Landside Operations Officer II

George Delgado (photo not available)
Landside Operations Officer I

Landside Officer 1, George Delgado, noticed an elderly passenger sitting at curbside for two hours. He offered his assistance and learned that she had been abandoned there by her wheelchair provider. George notified Landside Officer 2, Yvonne Lewis, and both discovered that the passenger had also missed her connection. The officers called the airline for a wheelchair, but after a 40-minute wait, they borrowed a wheelchair and took the lady to the ticket counter themselves. At first, the airline would not help, but eventually, the officers got them to provide the lady with a new connecting flight for the next day, a meal voucher, and a room at the Hotel MIA. Discovering that the lady had no money, Officer Delgado gave her $20 from his own pocket. After the lady was settled in her hotel room, Officer Lewis contacted the lady’s son in Connecticut and advised him that his mother would arrive the next day at 2 pm.
 

May 2009

Rickita Grant
MDAD – Terminal Operations

Anthony Cooper
MDAD – Terminal Operations

Ronny Urdaneta
MIA Hotel

Maurice Wright
MDAD – Terminal Operations

As a great example of Customer Service’s team effort, Rickita Grant, Anthony Cooper, Ronny Urdaneta and Maurice Wright assisted a passenger who missed her connection to Bermuda on April 2, 2009.  The passenger was very pleased with each employee’s help, courtesy and professionalism during her stay at the airport.

July 2009

Tabitha Higuera
Supervisory Transportation Security Officer

Nataya Williams
Lead Transportation Security Officer

Jason Albury
Supervisory Transportation Security Officer

On their way to Checkpoint F, Officers Higuera and Williams noticed a 5-year old boy crying and learned that his shoe had been damaged by an escalator. After the boy and his family proceeded to gate F-5, the officers bought a pair of shoes for him with their own money and brought it to the family. The child's mother was moved to tears by their actions and commented that, since there was no store in which to buy shoes in the sterile area, her son would have had to travel in socks if not for the two officers.