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[lindsay-pacrem]

Second training day vs Last day completing our 150 hours /

This is Lucky Vincent Bersales, one of my closest friends and colleagues! We got through this placement together, from the interview all the way up to calculating our final hours together and submitting our time logs to our supervisor Suzanne.

You can see a bit of our growth, when we started we we very excited and we’re ready for a challenge! In our after picture we seem somewhat experienced and a little tired haha!

The Welcome Team has taught us disicipine, to put ourselves out there and most of all, to put our passengers first. These skills we’ve developed at our placement will come with us as we continue to keep applying for flight attendant positions.

It was a fun filled experience and I thank the Welcome Team for giving me a chance to be a volunteer that represents Toronto Pearson International Airport!

Signing off,

Lindsay 😊

[lindsay-pacrem]

Compliment from Passenger /

This came as a shock to me! I was assisting three Spanish speaking passengers looking for the offsite rent a car which is located at Viscount station. My understanding from them was that they booked a car and were looking where they could go and pick it up. Now the car rentals in the terminals are main popular ones like Budget, Enterprise, Hertz, Alamo, etc. They were looking for Payless which I knew right away they needed a shuttle to pick them up from Viscount.

They speak minimum English but I was able to pick up the words and assist. I escorted them to Viscount from Terminal 1 and personally called the company to organize a shuttle to pick them up. One of the women told me they were just looking to rent a car to get into downtown and go to Wasaga Beach for the weekend. So I was a bit confused because I thought they had already rented a car! The other women was speaking to the car company and inquiring about the price of how much it would be! So to make it clear they did not have a rental car to pick up they just wanted to go to the rental car company and speak with someone instead of doing everything online because it was hard to understand! Wow it was very confusing! Once they found out it was quite expensive they decided against it and asked me where they could catch a taxi. I told them we had to go back the terminals so I escorted them back. On our way back they changed their mind and asked if I could take them to the door where Uber’s can pick them up. So off we went! Little did I know once we got there they asked if they could pay the Uber in cash. I explained that unfortunately due to safety concerns Uber in Canada only takes credit or debit through the app. They were so shocked so I had to calm them down. Their final destination was to get to downtown and they wanted the quickest way possible without taking a bus or the UP Express. After disputing amongst themselves they decided on taking a taxi.

They thanked me for helping them and tried to give me a tip to which I kindly declined. Instead I gave them a comment card and told them they could leave a comment with my name attached! They took the car and took a picture of my name tag! Later on I got this email from one of my supervisors and it melted my heart! It translates into:

We appreciate the collaboration provided by Lindsay P. From the airport welcome team. She was very helpful, friendly and efficient. Thank you.

I thought this was heart warming and knowing I made their day made me happy!

[lindsay-pacrem]

Terminal 3 - 500 Series /

This is probably my favourite zone to work in from 2-6pm as it is not too busy or too slow. Cathay Pacific is clearing out and Air Transat fills up more counters to start checking in the afternoon flights. Most passengers ask me where Air Transat is and all I have to do is point behind me and show them the blue banner with the white star. I also get asked where KLM and British Airways is because they use to be in zone 5 where as now they have moved to zone 2 and 1.

I love roaming this area because I get to walk towards these big windows at the far end of the terminal and just gaze out at the planes. It’s one of my most favoured places in terminal 3! I also get to see my colleagues working at Air Transat and Cathay Pacific so we get to say hi to each other while on our shifts!

[lindsay-pacrem]

Long line to get through security /

It was such a busy day, all these people lining up were waiting to get through the international gates. Most flights were leaving to Vienna, Kingston, Tel Aviv, Madrid, Munich, Frankfurt and other international destinations. Security got backed up and I was so shocked I captured a video to show you how long the line was! I’ve never seen it like this and my fellow Welcome Team members were in awe too as they haven’t seen it gone this far back for a long time! This is Terminal 1 and there are aisles numbered from 1-15. The line started at aisle 6 and went all the way to aisle 11 (this is where people flying to the USA check in). It was crazy and it was so overwhelming to answer everyone’s questions! I would get pulled into aisle 5 where Air Canada would check in for international flights and passengers would think I was an agent. I have to explain to them that I cannot assist them in checking in on the kiosk nor help them attach their baggage tags. I would have to redirect them to an AC agent and how for the best as that’s the only thing I could do. This was a learning experience for me to because I had to be patient yet stern with the passengers.

[lindsay-pacrem]

The Welcome Team’s Furry Friends /

I cannot begin to tell you guys how fun it is when I see these four legged fur friends walking around the terminals strutting their stuff! Let me introduce to you our therapy dogs! On the left is Bella and Sofia (sisters), then to their right you have Daisey and on the far right that is Kahlua!

These therapy dogs are trained by their owners (also volunteers) and St. John Ambulance to help out the Welcome Team and assist passengers as well! When people see them all their stress melts away and they get down to pet the dogs. The worries of travelling are gone and they feel more relaxed! I gotta hand it to these guys they make me happy when I see them too!

[lindsay-pacrem]

One evening /

I bumped into these ladies in terminal 1 as I was finishing up my last shift for the day. It was a two hour roaming zone where I would walk from domestic arrivals all the way to international arrivals. I found these ladies near the international arrivals area looking very lost and frantic as they were clearly trying to find something. I approached them and asked if they needed any help with anything. They smiled and said “hablas Español?” To which my response was “un poco.” They then began explaining to me their whole situation is Spanish and I could only understand bits and parts. When they saw my confused laugh we all broke out laughing because that’s the language we all understood, the language of laughter! One of the girls ended up FaceTiming her aunt that lives in Mexico and she handed the phone to me! I spoke to the aunt and she explained that they needed to catch a bus that would take them to Brock University. All she knew was that the bus would arrrive in Terminal 3. Once I found that out I told them we were in Terminal 1 and that we needed to take a train to the other terminal. They didn’t understand so I pulled out my phone and google translated. Their faces lit up when they read that I would help them get to where they needed to go! While we were on the link train heading to T3 they pulled these cookies out of their bag and asked if I wanted candy. I said “si, me gusta.” We all started laughing and I gladfully took the treat saying gracias! When we got to Terminal 3 I had an idea that the bus was pre-arrranged and it was confirmed when they took out papers from their email that the university sent them. It was directions where to go on the arrrivals level of T3 to get to the pre-arranged transportation services. I brought them all the way up to the waiting area and spoke to the lady working there. She searched them up in the system and told me that the bus would not come till 11:30pm, it was only 8:30 pm at the time. I translated this to the ladies and told them where the nearest washrooms were and closest restaurants. Once we said our goodbyes they asked for a picture and I was glad we took one so I could include it here!

This is a little insight as to the kinds of situations we can expect from passengers and how we go out of our way to assist them! I was glad I helped these ladies out and hopefully I made their welcome to Toronto a little but better!

[lindsay-pacrem]

Welcome Team Counter Log

This is an inside look at where us Welcome team members sign out a counter and basically clock in for our shifts. After we have clocked in on the computer we go to this book and write down our names, our counter #, the date, and our zones we will be working in.

I like going through this once in awhile because it make me proud to see how many volunteers take time out of their schedules to come and assist passengers. I also know who I’m working with that day because I see who signed in. (Ps. This made it so easy to remember people’s names as I saw them on break and would put a name to their face).

It’s funny because some of the Welcome Team members would go through the book and when they see me roaming in my zone they would say “You’re here every day, aren’t you tired of the airport yet!” To which I would respond that I’m trying to reach my 150 hours and they always wish me luck. It’s a nice environment to volunteer in 😊

[lindsay-pacrem]

June 22, 2019 / Graduation - Treasure Hunt

Fast forward to grad!! Wow training is finished, all those online courses and hands on tours of the airport! I didn’t even know I was capable of memorizing crucial information that we will use for every shift.

This is the team I graduated with! We are all somewhat aviation geeks and have been exposed to the industry in one way or another. We all have a strong passion to assist passengers and enjoy being at the airport from time to time to volunteer! We made a WhatsApp group so that we would all stay in touch and I can say it’s only been a few days and my phone keeps going off with all the updates they find out! They share all their tips and tricks when faced with a difficult situation where the passenger needs extra assistance and we all feel comfortable sharing experiences with each other!

[lindsay-pacrem]

June 4-6, 2019 / Terminal 1 and 3 Familiarization Tours

Oh my goodness, I always knew there was so much to know about the terminals but these two tours really went in depth about the importance of everything a welcome team member needs to know and where everything is. It’s so overwhelming but utterly amazing! We toured both terminals and dissected so many corners I had to take pictures to remember! I was really glad I had finished my online training course for Lounge Re-numbering and Wayfinding (outlines each terminal and breaks down all of the signs, the meaning of domestic, international and transborder, different gates, lounges, piers, etc) because it really helped me understand what our trainer was explaining. I now can say I’m a bit more comfortable about where things are situated and if given a question from a passenger I would be able to make an educated guess based on what I’ve learned!

[lindsay-pacrem]

May 28, 2019 / Training Sessions

Wow, I made it past the interview and onto training! I am now an official volunteer for the Greater Toronto Airports Authority Welcome Team! (Well, volunteer in training) Today was my first training session, I have already learned so much about what the Welcome Team does at the airport and how everything they do leaves a positive impact on passengers travel experiences! It’s so uplifting and the passion my manager, Suzanne, and my coordinators, Nneka and Walter, have for the Welcome Team is so contagious that my fellow team members and I can’t wait to get started and be in the field!

Training consisted of educating us on the GTAA’s history and outlining the mission and vision statements of the Welcome Team. We went over fun facts of the airport and looked at the Terminals from a glance, who else works at the airport and government agencies that keep everything and everyone in check. We went over the multiple airlines that are serviced out of Pearson and examples of services that passengers have access to. It was a jam packed night and I look forward to our familiarization tours in the next couple weeks!