News release: LAX TRAINS AIRPORT EMPLOYEES TO DELIVER EXCEPTIONAL EXPERIENCES AND DEMONSTRATE “iCARE”
(Los Angeles, California – March 22, 2017) Continuing efforts to put passengers first, Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) reached another milestone in its guest-experience program with an airport wide employee training to raise awareness of Los Angeles World Airport’s (LAWA) vision to deliver a gold-standard airport and exceptional experiences.
Just last week, LAX was ranked by Skytrax among the Top 10 Most Improved Airports in the world. “We appreciate the honor and recognize that there is still much we have to do,” said Los Angeles World Airports CEO Deborah Flint. “Our goal is to move up the Skytrax and J.D. Power rankings, simultaneously rebuilding, re-engineering and re-imagining the airport experience holistically in our $14 billion investment in infrastructure and facilities. But we realize that we can’t just improve the passenger experience with brick and mortar. We have to match world-class facilities with world-class service and train all airport employees to consider our travelers as our guests.”
The strategic and comprehensive guest-experience program is specifically designed to engage the entire airport community, and ensure service excellence. Developed by employees, for employees, the behaviors roll up into the acronym, “iCARE”, representing service delivery anchor behaviors: Informative, Courteous, Approachable, Responsive, Efficient and Effective.
The “iCARE” training centers on the LAX brand statement that serves as the overarching principle that drives the service behaviors: At LAX, we strive to make our guest visits efficient, hospitable and memorable by providing modern, world-class facilities, services and innovation that showcase the ambiance and excitement of Los Angeles and the lifestyle and warmth of sunny Southern California.
A holistic approach to employee engagement includes the training program which is supported by mystery shopping, coaching and consultations, rewards/recognition and a communications program to continually keep the key behaviors top of mind on an ongoing basis.
The training is a key element of transforming the traveler end-to-end journey through a major shift in employee culture, and instilling a “guest first” ethic.
“How we treat passengers and how we make them feel always matters,” said Flint. “This comprehensive training initiative will provide the foundation for a consistent level of exceptional service airport-wide. Enhancing the guest experience takes a collaborative effort with all of our airport business and agency partners to really move the guest satisfaction needle each and every day for the more than 80 million travelers who use LAX.”
The goal is to increase guest satisfaction and optimize the LAX experience with exceptional people, services, innovation/technology, facilities and improved efficiencies through increased throughput, decreased wait times and streamlined processes.
The training was developed with input from the Guest Experience Partners Council which is comprised of representatives from the LAX service-delivery chain, including the Transportation Security Administration, Customs and Border Protection, airlines, concessionaires, service providers, and LAWA executives. Input was also received from a complementary council made up of key LAWA stakeholders.
The kickoff was designed to generate excitement and buzz about the upcoming training and to provide a sneak peek at the iCARE behaviors and an inspirational video featuring LAX employee’s on the job as they work to serve the world, connecting people, places and cultures.
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 at
As a covered entity under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the City of Los Angeles does not discriminate on the basis of disability and, upon request, will provide reasonable accommodation to ensure equal access to its programs, services, and activities. Alternative formats in large print, braille, audio, and other forms (if possible) will be provided upon request.