A mother who had come to America from the Phillippines ahead of her teenage daughter returned to LAX to pick up her daughter when she realized, but she realized she had a big problem. The mother had promised her daughter, who was traveling alone, that she would be at the airline gate to meet her daughter when she got off the plane, but because the arrival gate was behind security the mother realized she could not fulfill that promise.
In addition, the mother was carrying a 2-year-old child and got very anxious as she rushed around Tom Bradley terminal looking for help, when she spotted our volunteer, Lupe R. Immediately, Lupe calmed the mother by focusing her full attention on her and using body language to let her know that she would do whatever she could to help.
The mother told Lupe how upset her teenage daughter would be if she got off the plane and did not see her. Lupe continued to explain how she understood and not to worry.
Lupe was proactive and got the name of the airline. Then she rushed over to the carrier to find a representative who could intercede. Lupe explained the situation, impressing on the representative how upset the mother was and how important it was to ensure that someone be at the gate when the plane arrived. This calmed the mother, to see how active Lupe was on her behalf, and to see the lengths Lupe was going to to follow up and get action.
Ultimately, the daughter was met when the plane arrived and the rep who met her explained how soon she would be seeing her mother. The mother emailed LAX to say how impressed she was with Lupe’s leadership and to commend LAX for having volunteers who show such great concern for airport customers.