Changi Airport celebrates 25 years of service excellence

SINGAPORE, 13 February 2018 – Since 1994, Changi Airport has been honouring outstanding individuals who have exemplified service excellence by going beyond their call of duty. To celebrate the silver jubilee of the Annual Airport Celebration (AAC), Changi Airport Group (CAG) introduced three new awards this year - ‘Changi Hero Award’ to recognise staff who had stepped forward in a life threatening situation to take charge and aid passengers; ‘Changi Service Star’ which recognises the remarkable achievement for staff who has won top service awards multiple times; and ‘Special Commendation Award’ to commend an airport partner who had consistently been a supportive employer to airport staff over the years.

Over the past 25 years, a total of 338 service staff have been honoured for their exemplary service, out of whom 38 individuals have won the AAC service awards two times or more. Within this special group, three individuals have won the top awards at least three times, making them the first recipients of the ‘Changi Service Star’ award.

Paying tribute to its service heroes at AAC 2018 today, 30 awards across eight categories were given out at the event graced by Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Minister for Transport, Mr Khaw Boon Wan. The other five award categories are ‘Service Personality of the Year’, ‘Outstanding Service Staff of the Year’, ‘Outstanding Custodial Staff of the Year’, ‘Outstanding Service Team of the Year’ and ‘Service Partner of the Year’

Award recipients have been selected based on the extent to which they had gone beyond the call of duty to assist passengers; their self-initiative, resourcefulness and creativity in handling a difficult situation; as well as passengers’ feedback. The full list of this year’s award recipients can be found in Annex A.

Honouring the champions of service

For winning five top service awards in her 18 years of service at Changi Airport, Fauziah Binte Mohd Ali is one of three being presented with the inaugural ‘Changi Service Star’. From providing assistance to passengers who were ill and could not proceed with their travels to those who faced problems with their flight connections, nothing seemed too difficult to handle for Fauziah. Well known in the airport community for her warmth and sincerity to both passengers and colleagues, Fauziah first joined the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore as a part-time Customer Service Officer and has worked her way up to become a Changi Experience Executive. In addition to her deep passion for customer service excellence, Fauziah is being lauded for her consistent outstanding customer service acts and for putting passengers ahead of all that she does.

Performing life-saving acts

The service hero who has won this year’s ‘Service Personality of the Year’ award is twenty-six year old Nguyen Thi Tuyet Trang from Certis Cisco Aviation Security. In a short span of about six months, Trang has saved two lives in the course of duty at Changi Airport.

The first incident took place in December 2016. Trang was outside a toilet at Terminal 3 Transit Hall when she saw a mother screaming frantically while carrying her five-year-old daughter who had choked on a candy. Trang immediately stepped forward to help and managed to dislodge the candy, successfully saving the child’s life.

In a separate incident in June 2017, Trang performed a second life-saving act. She was at Terminal 2 Transit Hall when she spotted a middle-aged female passenger lying on the ground. Trang found that the passenger had stopped breathing and immediately performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on her. The passenger subsequently regained consciousness and Trang kept her company till medical personnel arrived.

For stepping forward and assisting passengers in a life-threatening situation, Trang is also awarded the inaugural ‘Changi Service Hero’ award.

Committed to service excellence and staff welfare

In recognition of its commitment to excellent customer service and emphasis on productivity initiatives, Smarte Carte was named ‘Service Partner of the Year’ in this year’s awards. In the last few years, Smarte Carte has introduced a series of productivity initiatives to improve efficiency and the working conditions for its staff. One example is the automation of the trolley transportation process. This has both helped to ease the workload of trolley service staff, as well as enhance their safety and that of other airport users.

Besides leveraging smart capabilities to serve passengers better, Smarte Carte firmly believes that staff are very important assets, so emphasis is placed on taking care of each and every one of them. This includes paying close attention to the training and skills upgrading of staff to ensure that they remain relevant as operations become increasingly dynamic. To enhance staff well-being, Smarte Carte has also introduced new medical outpatient and dental benefits for their staff, which has been very well received. Smarte Carte has been exemplary in showing care for their staff, which encourages them to continue working with the company and in Changi Airport.

Continuing the ONE Changi movement

CAG continues to build the culture of ONE Changi among the airport community as it understands that all agencies need to work together as one to create an enjoyable experience for the more than 62 million passengers who pass through Changi Airport every year.

Speaking at the award ceremony, Mr Lee Seow Hiang, CEO of CAG said, “It is not by chance that we continue to hear such extraordinary stories of staff going the extra mile. We have our partners to thank for, for ensuring that service training remains relevant to the times. And these agencies lead by example in genuinely looking after the well-being of their staff – like you would for a fellow family member. This, in turn, has translated to staff wanting to continuously do their utmost for passengers.”

“I want to congratulate all the award winners of the evening. Thank you, for your dedication and courage. I hope your stories will inspire many to do the same for our passengers, and I look forward to having more meaningful engagements with all of you as we continue to build our ONE Changi community.”