A group of six employees from the Miami-Dade Aviation Department (MDAD), the Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD) and American Airlines spontaneously came together last month to help a woman and her two young children who were stranded at Miami International Airport for three days because they missed their connecting flight.
The family of three had traveled from Newark, New Jersey, but were unable to catch a connecting flight to their home country of Venezuela. They also had few travel documents and not enough money for food or a hotel.
After learning of her situation, MDAD Senior Operations Agent Melissa Hernandez contacted American Airlines and MDPD for assistance. MDPD Officer Megahar responded with compassion and understanding, even giving the woman cash for groceries, stickers, and a coloring book for her children.
Hernandez also consulted with American Airlines Customer Service Managers Maria Simone and Jesus Cruz to explore the possibility of helping the woman and her children obtain the necessary travel documents or find hotel accommodations for the evening. At the same time, MDAD Operations Specialist Yanelis Olbera cut her shift short to attend to the woman’s children, who were visibly tired and distressed. While continuing to perform his regular duties, MDAD Operations Agent Erick Montealto helped the woman by storing her two large suitcases in MDAD’s offices so she would not have to lug them around while the staff team made their arrangements.
Hernandez took the family to a nearby MIA food court and treated each of them to a meal with her own money. Although she had finished her shift and was asked to help on the way home, Simone was happy to stop to help and was able to secure two-day hotel accommodations for the family with food vouchers.
Olbera and Montealto stayed with them until they finished eating and helped the woman call the hotel to arrange a shuttle pickup from MIA. As for American Airlines, Cruz had just arrived at work when he found out what had happened, and he immediately began organizing travel for the family.
“This story truly exemplifies what we mean when we say ‘we are missed,'” said Krizi Padilla, MDAD terminal operations manager, who nominated the group as Employees of the Month. “I am sure this woman and her oldest son will never forget what everyone involved did today to make their situation a little easier. This great display of kindness and compassion from everyone involved warms my heart. I want to express my sincere gratitude to all of them for making this airport a better place and working hard to help our customers.”
Because of their compassion, teamwork and customer-focused attitude, the group of employees was named MIA’s Employees of the Month for July 2024.
