October 2024 Employees of the Month: Wheelchair-bound traveler stranded at MIA for days gets cleared for takeoff

On a recent Friday morning, Miami-Dade Aviation Department Terminal Operations Agent Axel Tullmann was called to MIA’s Concourse E information counter to assist a distressed wheelchair-bound passenger who spoke very little English, had scattered luggage, and had soiled his adult diapers. After doing some research, Tullmann discovered that the passenger had been stranded at MIA for the past four days after not being allowed to travel alone because of his condition.

Tullmann tried to book the man on a flight to his home country of Egypt with numerous airlines but was unsuccessful. He was able to find some adult diapers in MIA’s Lost and Found Office and buy the passenger some lunch. At 2:30 p.m. that day, Tullmann informed incoming Terminal Operations Senior Agent Michael Casellas of the stranded passenger’s situation and that he could not get up from his wheelchair without help. Tullmann let Casellas know that he was willing to stay after his shift to help in any way that he could.

Tullmann and Casellas contacted the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue to assist the passenger and verify that he was cleared for travel. With the assistance of a Homeless Trust representative and Fire Rescue, they then used MIA’s employee gym to help the passenger shower and change into new clothes. Finally, they booked the passenger on a flight to Cairo and stayed with him until his bags were taken to the gate, at which point he boarded the flight.

Because of their compassionate efforts to go far above their call of duty, Tullman and Casellas were named MIA’s October 2024 Employees of the Month.