April 2025 Employees of the Month: Generous employees help stranded traveler catch his flight

Last month, MIA Operations Agent John Meyer received a call during his shift from a woman in the Philippines looking for help for her husband who had been stranded at the airport for 12 hours. She explained that her husband had just arrived from his vacation in Manila to connect to another flight that would take him to his job on a cruise ship, but the airline was now charging him to check his luggage and he didn’t have enough money.

The woman desperately explained that her husband had been rebooked on another flight but if he missed it, he would also miss his ship and potentially lose his job.

Meyer contacted another Operations Agent, Naser Edeeb, to discuss how they might be able to help. Edeeb went to meet the traveler, who was visibly exhausted after his long journey from Manila to Miami and being stranded at the airport.

Edeeb reassured the passenger that he would do everything he could to help him. He contacted the airline manager on duty and asked if the luggage fee could be waived, but he was told that the airline could not make any exceptions.

Deeply moved by the passenger’s urgent situation and his wife’s tearful pleas over the phone, Edeeb used his own credit card to cover the bag fees and gave the passenger some extra money for food since he had not eaten either. Edeeb returned to his desk and shared what happened with Agent Meyer, who immediately volunteered to split the cost of the passenger’s expenses with Edeeb.

Because of their extreme generosity and teamwork, Meyer and Edeeb were named the I AM MIA Employees of the Month for April 2025.