Airport staff honoured at service awards

Changi Airport Group (CAG) today paid tribute to its airport partners at the Annual Airport Celebration held at the Raffles City Convention Centre. The airport community was lauded for its service excellence and outstanding contributions in 2011. For the first time, the service awards have been conferred on not only front-line personnel, but also presented to support and maintenance staff from Changi Airport’s agencies.

Mr Lui Tuck Yew, Minister for Transport and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs, graced the occasion and presented 25 Changi Airport Service Awards to individuals and teams in four award categories – Changi Airport Service Personality of the Year, Outstanding Service Providers, Outstanding Service Teams and the inaugural ‘Outstanding Custodial Staff’.

In his speech, Minister Lui also congratulated the winners of the awards. He said, “Today, we celebrate the achievements of 25 outstanding individuals who have made a significant difference in the delivery of service at Changi: they are the winners of this year’s Changi Airport Service Awards. You come from diverse backgrounds – from frontline and custodial staff to officers from enforcement agencies and even a retail chef. Yet, through your exemplary acts of service, each of you has helped to deliver an airport experience that has left a positive and lasting impression on your customers.”

This year, CAG has introduced a new award category – Outstanding Custodial Staff – to recognise the efforts of personnel from the support and maintenance teams at Changi Airport such as the cleaners, trolley retrievers, taxi coordinators and car park management officers. Madam Au Jock Lian, a trolley service assistant at Terminal 2, has been awarded the Gold Outstanding Custodial Staff Award.

Mr Lee Seow Hiang, CEO of Changi Airport Group, said “Traffic at Changi Airport grew 11% in December 2011, when we hosted an estimated 4.5 million passengers, an all-time record for a single month. As we actively grow our air hub, we have also worked hard to maintain Changi’s service excellence. Whether assisting customers, or quietly supporting the airport’s complex operations behind-the-scenes, the nearly 30,000 people at Changi, have consistently rose to the occasion to make a difference for our customers.

“We congratulate this year’s Changi Airport Service Award recipients, which include seven support and maintenance staff. Indeed, they too are Changi’s service ambassadors. Directly or indirectly, they connected with our passengers and, in their own ways, helped to deliver a memorable Changi Experience.”

The Changi Airport Service Awards were introduced in 1994 and have remained a key feature of CAG’s quality service management programme, providing a platform to acknowledge and recognise exceptional individuals and teams who, with their dedication and commitment to delivering quality customer service, personify the Changi Experience for millions of passengers and visitors every year.

This year’s 25 winners were evaluated and selected based on the degree to which the nominee went beyond the call of duty to assist passengers; their initiative, resourcefulness and creativity in handling the situation; and passengers’ appreciation/ compliments and consistency in service performance.

Service from the heart
The 2011 winner of the prestigious ‘Changi Airport Service Personality of the Year’ award is Mr Maxime d’Alexandry d’Orengiani Michel, a Changi Experience Agent at Changi Airport.

On 6 July 2011 Max went beyond his call of duty while doing his rounds at Terminal 1 Departure Hall. He was approached by an airline staff to assist a handicap and wheelchair-bound male British passenger who had arrived from Paris. The passenger was travelling alone and was transiting in Singapore.

The passenger had encountered some problems with his earlier flight booking and Max not only helped him re-book another flight he also assisted the passenger with his early check-in as the earliest flight was the following morning. He wheeled the passenger to the Sats Special Service (SSS) Lounge and left him there to rest.

Before his shift ended, Max went to bid the passenger farewell. As he was sleeping Max decided to write him a note instead. While writing, the passenger woke up and told Max that he had soiled himself. To save the passenger from further embarrassment, Max rushed to purchase a new pair of pants and boxers from his own personal account. However, the pants were found to be unsuitable for the passenger due to his medical condition. Max then accompanied the passenger to shop for some appropriate apparel. Max purchased a towel and brought the passenger to the handicap toilet. As the passenger was paralysed from the waist-down, Max assisted him to clean up and change. It was a long and arduous task and Max remained patient and took extra care to ensure that the passenger’s safety such as losing his balance and fall was not compromised.

Although it was well past his working shift, Max stayed on to take care of the passenger’s immediate needs and provided him with a fresh change of clothes from his soiled ones before boarding the plane. Max called the passenger the next day to ensure that he had arrived safely in his destination.

For his exemplary efforts in customer service, Max will receive S$5,000 in Changi shopping vouchers, a trophy and a certificate of commendation signed by Mr Liew Mun Leong, Chairman of Changi Airport Group.

Please see the Annex for more information on the ‘2011 Service Personality of the Year’ award to Max and details of the other major award recipients.

Changi - Pinnacle in service excellence
In his address to the airport community, Minister Lui said, “Changi has been able to maintain its competitive advantage through good and bad times, in part because of its excellence in the areas of efficiency, safety and security. But what truly differentiates Changi as an industry leader is its service excellence. Last year, it had an improved score of 78.6 points in the 2011 Customer Satisfaction Index of Singapore, which is the highest among companies in the transportation and logistics sector and significantly higher than the sector average of 70.0.”

Changi Airport remains the world’s most awarded airport, collecting another 23 ‘Best Airport’ awards in 2011. To date, Changi Airport is the proud recipient of over 390 awards since its opening in 1981.