LAWA KICKS OFF NATIONAL VOLUNTEER APPRECIATION WEEK, HONORS VOLUNTEERS FOR MORE THAN 40,000 HOURS OF SERVICE

LAWA KICKS OFF NATIONAL VOLUNTEER APPRECIATION WEEK,

HONORS VOLUNTEERS FOR MORE THAN 40,000 HOURS OF SERVICE

(Los Angeles, California – April 21, 2017)  To commemorate National Volunteer Appreciation Week, Los Angeles Board of Airports Commissioner Vice President Val Velasco will honor Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) airport volunteers for their invaluable service at the Annual Volunteer Recognition Luncheon at the Sheraton Gateway Los Angeles Hotel. 

Top honorees include Dick Stout, from Northridge, who has volunteered at LAX for 35 years, serving a culmination of more than 11,000 hours!  Another volunteer who will be honored is Barbara Prizkat, from Redondo Beach who has volunteered at LAX for 20 years. 

Currently, there are approximately 240 Volunteer Information Professional (VIP) volunteers, including 65 volunteers in the Pets Unstressing Passengers (PUP) program.  In 2016, VIPs provided more than 39,000 service hours and PUP volunteers provided more than 3,000 service hours.

National Volunteer Recognition Week is celebrated from Sunday, April 23 to Saturday, April 29.  As part of recognition week, VIP and PUP volunteers will wear commemorative pins to bring awareness to the week’s celebration.

VIP volunteers are stationed at LAX information booths in terminals at the baggage claim areas.  They assist passengers by providing directions to appropriate transportation and travel accommodations, and providing information to sightseeing and hospitality resources in the Los Angeles area.  VIPs are available from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends.  PUP volunteers work two-hour shifts and provide comfort to guests at the boarding gate areas.

The VIP and PUP programs are part of LAX’s Guest Services Division, which also includes 150 part-time Guest Experience Members.

Applications for both the VIP and PUP programs   and can be submitted to: VIP Program, 205 World Way, Los Angeles, CA 90045. For more information, contact the VIP Office at (424) 646-VIP1 (8471) or at vip@lawa.org.

About Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)

           LAX is the fourth busiest airport in the world, second in the United States, and was named Skytrax’ 2017 Top 10 Most Improved Airports.  LAX served more than 80.9 million passengers in 2016.  LAX offers 742 daily nonstop flights to 101 cities in the U.S. and 1,280 weekly nonstop flights to 77 cities in 42 countries on 64 commercial air carriers.  LAX ranks 14th in the world and fifth in the U.S. in air cargo tonnage processed, with more than 2.2 million tons of air cargo valued at over $101.4 billion.  LAX handled 697,138 operations (landings and takeoffs) in 2016. 

An economic study based on 2014 operations reported LAX generated 620,610 jobs in Southern California with labor income of $37.3 billion and economic output (business revenues) of more than $126.6 billion.  This activity added $6.2 billion to local and state revenues and $8.7 billion in federal tax revenues.  The study also reported that LAX’s ongoing capital-improvement program creates an additional 121,640 annual jobs with labor income of $7.6 billion and economic output of $20.3 billion, $966 million in state and local taxes, and $1.6 billion in federal tax revenues.

            LAX is part of a system of two Southern California airports – along with Van Nuys general aviation – that are owned and operated by Los Angeles World Airports, a proprietary department of the City of Los Angeles that receives no funding from the City’s general fund.

For more information about LAX, follow on Twitter

@flyLAXAirport , on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LAInternationalAirport , and on YouTube at

www.YouTube.com/laxairport1 .  Information about LAX’s ongoing multi-billion-dollar LAX Modernization Program, as well as tips and shortcuts to help navigate LAX during construction, are available