December 2021 Employee of the Month
Baggage handler helps passenger with long-haul airport trip
As a ramp worker for Eulen America at Miami International Airport, Javier Calderon Cordero is used to hauling luggage from the belly of airplanes to conveyor belts across the airport. Last month, Javier went the extra mile with his job during his lunch break to help an elderly passenger who was struggling with her large duffel bag when she entered MIA’s international greeter’s lobby in Concourse J.
At about 1 p.m. last month, Transportation Security Manager Ana Valdes noticed the elderly female traveler talking to Javier at the greeter’s lobby on the third floor. Shortly after, she saw him pick up her large duffel bag and guide her toward the elevator. At the time, Valdes thought maybe the woman was Javier’s relative or friend that he was greeting at the airport. When Valdes went down the escalator, she looked over to the elevators to see if they were coming out. She then looked back upstairs and saw Javier carrying the same large duffel bag and helping the traveler get on the escalator, possibly because the elevator was full. Valdes waited for them to descend and then stopped them to asked if she could help. Javier told her that the passenger was anxious to get to the first floor where someone was coming to pick her up. He told her he was helping her find the arrivals level, and since her bag was huge, he was happy to carry it for her and show her the way.
Javier then explained to Valdes that he carries bags all day at the ramp area of the airport, so to him, helping the elderly traveler was his pleasure. Valdes was so touched by Javier’s kindness that she asked him if she could take a photo of his badge so she could nominate him for Employee of the Month, to which Javier seemed a bit caught off guard but agreed. When Valdes asked the traveler what she thought about Javier helping her, she just gave a big smile. Because of Javier’s kind gesture to walk the passenger and her luggage down a long-haul “flight” of elevator stairs, he was named MIA’s December 2021 Employee of the Month.
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