(Los Angeles, CA) Today, Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) and Edge4Vets continued their partnership to connect military servicemen and women with jobs at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Going beyond the expectations of a conventional job fair, Edge4Vets brings veterans and hiring professionals together for a substantive discussion that highlights how veterans can discuss their military service with companies that are looking for skilled and motivated applicants. Seminar attendees connected with 20 representatives from 12 airport employers. In total, 26 people participated in today's program by attending the in-person training session or completing coursework online.

“Edge4Vets has connected veterans with jobs at LAX and our greater airport community, and these employees have in turn brought perseverance, dedication and focus on mission to our teams,” said Paula Adams, Director of Airports Administration, LAWA. “Creating a great place to work starts with building a great team, and at LAWA we are proud of the many veterans who are part of creating a gold-standard experience for all of our guests.”

Now in its third year at LAX, the Edge4Vets seminar offered veterans a unique opportunity to meet one on one with a mentoring hiring manager or HR professional. Participating employers included LAWA, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Paradies Lagadère, Midway Auto Group and others. LAWA extended two provisional job offers to attending veterans. Other attendees received job interview appointments from participating companies. This year’s seminar also included Volunteers for America, the West Los Angeles Vet Center and Goodwill of SoCal. These nonprofit organizations offered assistive services to seminar attendees including housing, mental health support and job-related cost assistance for things such as paying for gas and work clothing.

“Following their service to our country, our veterans deserve a chance to realize their post-service potential,” said Tom Murphy, Founder, Edge4Vets. “Edge4Vets helps them do this by providing a great opportunity for veterans to connect face to face with employers, which can lead to an airport job that can become a promising career.”

Seminar participants worked side by side with representatives from airport companies who acted as mentors, helping veterans identify skills and values learned during their service. Later in the seminar, attendees were able to ask questions and learn about job opportunities directly from the managers themselves. Attending companies – offering positions in information technology, aviation, law enforcement, engineering, retail, sales and facilities maintenance – learned about the veterans’ experiences and expectations, and were able to make direct connections with them that can last beyond today's seminar.

The partnership between LAWA and Edge4Vets began in 2017, and complements other job outreach efforts offered by LAWA. Others include job fairs throughout LAX-area cities and neighborhoods; the HireLAX apprentice readiness program; and the Jobs@LAX website, which includes job opportunities at LAX-based companies.

Edge4Vets was developed by the Human Resiliency Institute at Fordham University in New York, and comes to LAX in partnership with Airport Council International-North America (ACI-NA) following successful implementations at airports on the East Coast and in the south.

LAX, the fourth-busiest airport in the world and second busiest in the United States, was named a top-10 U.S. airport by SKYTRAX. LAX served more than 87.5 million passengers in 2018 and offers an average of 700 daily nonstop flights to 109 cities in the U.S. and 1,281 weekly nonstop flights to 93 markets in 47 countries on 69 commercial airlines. LAX ranks 10th in the world in air cargo tonnage processed, with more than 2.4 million tons of air cargo. LAX handled 707,883 operations (landings and takeoffs) in 2018.  

LAX generated 620,600 jobs in Southern California, with labor income of $37.3 billion and economic output (business revenues) of more than $126.6 billion, according to an economic study based on 2014 operations. 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 was honored as having the “Best Overall Customer Service Program” by Airports Council International-North America; named the “Best Airport for Breastfeeding Moms” by Mamava; selected for the Top 10 “Best of the U.S.’s Big Airports” (Wall Street Journal) and “Most Pet-Friendly Airports in the U.S. (Mental Floss); named the second-most improved airport in the U.S. by JD Power; received an “Innovation Award” from the L.A. Better Business Challenge for its Central Utility Plant; and named  a “Business Leader in Air Quality” by the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

LAX is also the second-most popular airport in the world to appear on Instagram, according to wego.com. 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.   

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.