Meet JFK International Airport's N.I.C.E.™ Problem Solvers

We give N.I.C.E. new meaning - "Resiliency Edge" workers Neutralize Irritations Customers Experience™

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Resiliency Edge N.I.C.E. problem solvers earn awards when they turn upset travelers into satisfied customers - and you can too.

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Scroll down below - to read announcements of MONTHLY WINNERS! or click here:


Egbert Haynes, a TSA Supervisor at JFK, Fordham alum and Army vet, is "Captain" of the JFK "N.I.C.E. Corps" team.

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"Resiliency Edge" Success Stories

Entry Num:
1015
Company:
MonthlyWinners
Employee:
Incentive Program
Name:
Resiliency Edge MONTHLY WINNER
Comments:

Neither snow, nor rain nor sleet deters the Post Office, they say - but what we know is how true this is for Air Train employees as well!

Below is a great story of being RESILIENT in the face of a fierce snow storm this week from Mother Nature. Congratulations to Qamir Brown and Supervisor "COACH" Vladimir Myrthil - for a wonderful customer service story. Our new story of the month!

A traveler was upset because she lost her luggage on the AirTrain which contained her passport and she absolutely needed to make a flight that had already been delayed for 24 hours. She advised me that if she didn’t make the flight she would miss her sister’s wedding.

I was pro active from resiliency class and transmitted an announcement for all AirTrain units to check all trains for the bag she describe to me. Unfortunately her bag was not found and boarding time for her flight was getting closer. I then suggested for her to go to the immigration office at Terminal 4, for they make way for passengers to get passports temporarily made.

The traveler left happy, saying “Thank you very much” and gratefully gave me another hug and said “Thank you” again. To show the happy ending that resulted from my efforts I later heard that immigration was able to help her and she did make the flight and the wedding!



Entry Num:
979
Company:
MonthlyWinners
Employee:
Marti Colozzi - Delta Baggage Office
Name:
Coordinator
Comments:

A passenger was upset when he approached me in the Delta Baggage Office. He had just flown into JFK from Tampa and was scheduled to connect on a flight to Shannon for a golf vacation. But the problem was his golf clubs had not arrived with his other luggage and golf was the reason he was going to Ireland! I checked the computer and found that in fact the golf clubs were at JFK, it’s just we couldn’t locate them. He grew more nervous as the time for his Shannon flight got closer and I assured him using my resiliency skills that I would find the clubs. If they were at JFK, and the computer said they were, I would get them! I told the passenger to go to Aer Lingus to check in and I shifted into high gear. As promised I continued to keep him informed on my personal cell phone. Then fifteen minutes before Aer Lingus was set to close out its check in process I located the clubs. I got someone to cover me in the office while I paid for a Smarte Carte, loaded his clubs on and ran them up to the Aer Lingus counter, where he was waiting. I don’t know who was more breathless, him or me, but we made it by five minutes. He thanked me over and over and told me I had saved his vacation. I told him that’s what we do at Delta to make our customers happy!


Entry Num:
921
Company:
MonthlyWinners
Employee:
Monthly Winners
Name:
N.I.C.E. Incentive
Comments:

Congratulations to this month's winner, Monique Stewart, and to her supervisor "coach," Vladimir Myrthil, for demonstrating not only a great "engagement" strength, but we commend Monique for her willingness and ability to think and act so enthusiastically. Note how Monique's quick response to a customer's problem saved the day for the traveler in this story, Number 908, shown below:

Story Num:908
Company:Bombardier
Employee:Monique Stewart
Supevisor's name:Vladimir Myrthil

Comments:
A traveler was upset because he left his black back pack on a train. As I was walking down the platform to go on my break, I saw a bag on the seat. The doors were closing and since I was not allowed to touch unattended bags, I jumped off the train before the doors closed.

While I was exiting the train a male passenger was running down the platform frantically saying, “He left his bag on the train.” I got a description of the bag from him and told him I would call the agent at the next station to retrieve his bag.

After a few attempts I was able to get the agent and told him to retrieve the bag from the train. The customer asked me my name, and then left happy, saying “I’m very happy and grateful my bag was recovered.”


Entry Num:
860
Company:
MonthlyWinners
Employee:
Incentive Program
Name:
Monthly Winners
Comments:

Congratulations to our monthly winners - Kareem Allison and his supervisor, Shameeka Brown, of Air Train at JFK.

Pro Action is one of four resiliency strengths we talk about in Resiliency Edge class. Here (in the story below, Number 854) Kareem shows he took the training lesson to heart. Notice how he spotted lost luggage, then used his good pro active sense to help the customer get the luggage back in a timely way. See the story below for details, and again congratulations to Kareem and her "coach" Shameeka.

Story Num:854
Company:Bombardier
Employee:Kareem Allison
Name:Shameeka Brown
Comments:
A traveler was upset because she lost her luggage at the Howard Beach Station earlier in the day. I told the customer earlier in my shift that I was given an unattended luggage bag.

Instead of immediately tagging the item, I put the luggage in a secure place in case the customer realized they forgot their luggage. If I would have tagged the luggage, then the customer would have to wait and pick up the luggage from the Port Authority building.

The customer left happy, saying “Thank you very much.”



Entry Num:
802
Company:
MonthlyWinners
Employee:
Incentive Program
Name:
Monthly Winners
Comments:

Congratulations to Natasha St. Laurent, an Air Train employee, and to her supervisor, Myrna Perez, for demonstrating outstanding customer service leadership to win this month's "Resiliency Edge" award.

Below, in story number 795, Natasha shows how she applied her "pro action" skills from Resiliency Edge training to help a distressed traveler reclaim her computer. It's Natasha's quick thinking and follow through that turned the upset traveler into a satisfied JFK customer.

Thank you, Natasha, for great work - and thank you, Myrna, for supporting all your employees to do their best. Read the full story below:

Story Number 795
Name. Natasha St. Laurent
Supervisor: Myrna Perez
Comments:

A traveler was frantic because she lost her tote bag that contained her laptop. As I was monitoring my radio I heard ATA call another agent to check a Jamaica train with the bag description. I used my listening and communication skills and took it upon myself to start searching the Jamaica train as well. Surely enough I found the bag on a Jamaica train. I communicated with the agent that I have the bag in my possession. The passenger was sent to me. The customer left happy, saying “She couldn’t thank me enough for locating her bag. I saved her a lot of money and grief.”




Entry Num:
580
Company:
MonthlyWinners
Employee:
Monthly Winners
Name:
N.I.C.E. Incentive
Comments:

Congratulations to this month's winners, Agent Donald Parler and Supervisor Priscilla Everett from the Air Train. They demonstrated fine teamwork with this winning story shown below.

Notice how Donald applied his Resiliency Edge skills by "engaging" with the customer. Tears showed him how upset the traveler was, as anyone heading back to Europe would be if they lost their passport. Note also how he demonstrated "pro action" in finding a solution. Congratulations to Priscilla for using her "coaching" skills from program to encourage Donald in the field.

Each will win a $25 American Express Gift Check. Below you can read their winning story, Number 507, in full:

Entry Num:507
Company:Bombardier
Employee:Donald Parler
Name:Priscilla Everett
Story:
A traveler was upset because he lost his back pack with his and all of his family tickets and passports. He was to the point of tears because he didn't know how he was getting home to Europe. I called over the radio to all field agents to be on the lookout with description of bag. Agent was able to track it down on a train and call it in. I escorted passenger to the location and got bag back. The traveler left happy, saying "Thank you! You saved my life".




Entry Num:
468
Company:
MonthlyWinners
Employee:
N.I.C.E. Incentive
Name:
Monthly Winner
Comments:

This month's winning story shows the power of ENGAGEMENT. In class we talk about how vital this "resiliency" strength is.

Engagement is all about making "connections" with customers and focusing on their needs, but what makes this month's story so outstanding is how GERARD MCLOUGHLIN, the ATA featured in the story, and GREG WADE (a winner again!) the Supervisor who discovered this story and reported it, is how Gerard hangs in there and continues to engage the woman traveler.

Let the story itself show you the power of "hanging in" with the connection once you make it:

A traveler was upset because she had just missed her flight, came up the escalator to Terminal 8 platform, looked around and just started crying.

I knew it was pretty late and it was unlikely that any more flights would be going out that night but she wanted to try. She didn't know her way around the airport, so I figured if I showed her how to get around for a short while, and just talked to her while we were on the train, she would calm down and feel a little better. She did and we found her a flight to Miami, for that morning at 5:50am.

The traveler left happy, saying " you must have thought I was crazy, but I had a really long day and it just got to be too much. I'm going to hangout and try to relax at Terminal 4 like you said, then catch my flight in the morning. Thanks for sticking by me. Thanks for everything".



Entry Num:
359
Company:
MonthlyWinners
Employee:
N.I.C.E. Incentive
Name:
Announcing our April JFK winners!
Comments:

We're delighted to recognize JFK's April N.I.C.E. winners for their outstanding efforts solving problems for travelers. Being N.I.C.E. they "Neutralizie Irritations Customers Experience."

This month's winners are a front line worker/supervisor "team" from Air Train, Anthony Tan, a customer service agent, and his "Super Coach" supervisor, Greg Wade.

What’s great about this story - Story #326 which you can read below - is Anthony's willingness to step up and take control of the situation - and of course Greg's inspiring Anthony to use his Resiliency Edge "tools" and being pro active to get the story for us and report it!

The lesson in the story is that there are no guarantees if you start searching trains to help a customer with a lost item. You don't know if your search will be successful. But that didn’t bother Anthony. As the story shows – he got involved. And his effort paid fruit. He found the lady’s carry on. That's point: we never know the outcome from our effort. The key is trying.

Our two winners will each receive $25 American Express gift checks.

Here's the story from the website, Number 326:

A traveler was upset because she left her carry-on bag inside the AirTrain. Inside the carry on, she had 6 passports along with other important documents. I used one of my resiliency strengths, pro action, and searched all of the trains for her. After we searched a couple of the trains we found the bag. The traveler left happy, saying "Thank you". She also wanted to tip me, but I refused.




Entry Num:
162
Company:
MonthlyWinners
Employee:
N.I.C.E. Incentive
Name:
Announcing our most recent winners!
Comments:

We are delighted to present $25 Gift Checks to Artley Carter, an AirTrain Customer Service Supervisor, and Samir Ahmad, an AirTrain Agent, for their outstanding performers as RESILIENCY EDGE Problem Solvers!

The program regularly recognizes and rewards Supervisor/Front Line teams who apply the lessons from Resiliency Edge class and distinguish themselves for being N.I.C.E. - meaning they use their skills from class to Neutralize Irritations Customers Experience.

If you would like to read the winning story, scroll down to Story Number 139.

In a nutshell, here's what the "team" did: an elderly couple who
did not speak English well approached a Jamaica bound Air Train to Jamaica. The man stepped onto the train, but the doors
closed before his wife could enter the car. The train pulled out of the station, and she waited anxiously for the next train. When it arrived, she got on, but that train departed for Howard Beach. Samir used his Resiliency
Edge tools well, especially ENGAGEMENT and PROACTION, and
as you can see from the details in the story he got very creative and got the couple reunited - while Artley, his coach, recorded the story and got the report to us for inclusion online on this N.I.C.E. Story page!

Great job, Artley and Samir!

Your prizes are being sent to Pat Thompson - who will get them to you, and we look forward to selecting another set of winners next month!